/.3.2.2.  . 

LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON.  N.  J. 

Presented  by 

oVms  C\u-V-\nor 

Division...  QjL  . 

Section....  OLc,  . 


is&l 


HUNTER  CORBETT: 

FIFTY-SIX  YEARS  MISSIONARY  IN  CHINA 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/huntercorbettfifOOcrai 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


HUNTER  CORBETT: 

FIFTY-SIX  YEARS  MISSIONARY  IN  CHINA 

/v  ^ „ 

/ " ] 

BY 

JAMES  R.  E.  CRAIGHEAD 


The  Revell  Press 
New  York 


Copyright,  1921,  by 
JAMES  R.  E.  CRAIGHEAD 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 


PREFACE 


IN  the  following  pages  endeavor  has  been 
made  to  describe  a virile  type  of  mission- 
ary. The  study  has  revealed  an  inter- 
cessor, a student  of  the  Word,  a man  sincere 
in  motive,  friendly  in  disposition,  tender  in 
affection,  mighty  in  faith  and  unresting  in  la- 
bor. The  conditions  and  convictions  conspir- 
ing to  make  him  what  he  was,  the  circum- 
stances and  difficulties  which  were  a part  of  his 
development,  and  the  triumphs  and  defeats  he 
experienced  are  sketched  that  we  may  take 
measure  of  the  man  and  learn  by  what  travail 
of  spirit  and  perseverance  of  effort  souls  are 
won  for  the  Kingdom.  This  book  is,  there- 
fore, submitted  to  the  public  with  the  hope  that 
the  record  may  become  a means  for  stimulat- 
ing to  earnest  purpose  and  zealous  action. 

J.  R.  E.  C. 


Oswego,  Illinois. 


CONTENTS 


I. 

Ancestral  Traditions 

PAGE 

9 

II. 

The  Leatherwood  Home  . 

18 

, III. 

The  Molding  of  the  Man 

26 

IV. 

In  the  Schools  of  the  Prophets 

35 

V. 

The  Call  of  the  Spirit 

44 

VI. 

Grappling  with  the  Dragon 

56 

VII. 

The  Light  on  the  Hill 

69 

VIII. 

Warp  and  Woof  . 

79 

IX. 

Ink  and  Oil  .... 

88 

X. 

Shendza  and  Wheelbarrow 

96 

XI. 

The  Sons  of  Belial  . 

107 

XII. 

Chinese  Timothies 

119 

XIII. 

The  Care  of  the  Churches 

128 

XIV. 

The  Gospel  and  the  Tiger 

140 

XV. 

Fruit  of  Many  Labors 

151 

XVI. 

Crown  Jewels 

158 

XVII. 

The  Hearth  Stone 

170 

XVIII. 

The  Man  and  His  Message 

1 77 

XIX. 

Comrades  of  the  Cross 

187 

XX. 

Back  to  Antioch 

197 

XXI. 

Sunset  on  Temple  Hill  . 

213 

I 


ANCESTRAL  TRADITIONS 

THE  settlement  of  Western  Pennsylvania 
was  a transplanting  of  Scotland.  The 
process  by  which  it  was  accomplished 
was  the  evolution  of  the  migratory  spirit  in- 
fused by  Oliver  Cromwell  in  placing  Scottish 
families  upon  Irish  soil  in  the  discordant  days 
of  his  Protectorate.  Those  hardy  Scotch-Irish 
settlers,  who  crossed  the  Allegheny  mountains 
in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
found  among  the  broken  hills  at  the  head- 
waters of  the  Ohio  river  the  counterpart  of 
their  native  highlands,  and  were  content  to 
brave  the  dangers  threatened  by  savage  foes, 
and  the  inconveniences  of  a lonely  life  in  the 
wilderness.  The  lure  of  the  clan  was  felt  in 
the  settlements  far  to  the  east  and  in  the  dis- 
tant circles  across  the  Atlantic;  and  in  process 
of  time,  these  frontier  colonists  were  joined  by 
others  coming  from  our  eastern  borders  and 
from  Scotland  and  the  north  of  Ireland. 

Hailing  from  afar,  these  sturdy  immigrants 
settled  along  the  water  courses  and  among  the 
hills  of  Western  Pennsylvania  and  Eastern 
g 


10 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Ohio,  and  developed  a strong  and  independent 
type  of  citizen,  which  has  been  one  of  the  mani- 
fold glories  of  our  nation.  They  were  early 
called  upon  to  endure  fiery  trial  and  bloody 
baptism  through  the  cruelties  of  the  French 
and  Indian  War,  as  these  broke  upon  their  un- 
protected homes.  Out  of  these  sanguinary  ex- 
periences, however,  there  was  evolved  a his- 
tory which  the  Scotch-Irish  families  came  to 
regard  as  a part  of  their  sacred  traditions. 
Along  with  the  observance  of  family  worship, 
memorizing  the  Westminster  Shorter  Cate- 
chism, and  keeping  holy  the  Sabbath,  there 
were  the  tales  of  adventure  and  deliverance 
told  by  grandfathers  and  grandmothers  which 
were  an  unconscious  yet  characteristic  element 
in  the  training  of  the  young  in  those  early 
days. 

Into  this  environment  and  to  such  an  heri- 
tage, Hunter  Corbett  was  born  more  than 
three-quarters  of  a century  ago..-  Forests  of 
pine  and  hemlock  crowned  the  hills  for  miles 
about  the  family  homestead,  and  during  the 
long  winter  evenings  of  his  childhood,  he  lis- 
tened to  the  stories  of  adventure  told  before  a 
glowing  log  fire.  Intermingled  with  the  ac- 
counts of  log-rollings,  flax-scutchings,  apple- 
parings,  spelling-bees  and  quilting  parties,  there 
were  tales  of  the  hunt  of  deer  and  bear  and 


ANCESTRAL  TRADITIONS  11 

panther,  the  fox-drive,  the  wolf-chase,  the 
trapping  of  the  beaver,  and  the  taking  of  wild 
turkey  in  rail  pens.  But  dearer  than  all  these 
to  the  boy’s  ears  were  the  stories  of  battles  in 
which  his  ancestors  fought  with  the  French 
and  Indians,  and  later  in  the  Revolutionary 
War. 

The  adventures  of  his  progenitors  in  Amer- 
ica were  of  far  more  interest  to  him  than  the 
fact  that  the  Corbett  name  was  to  be  found 
in  the  Book  of  English  Peers,  the  Earl  of  Cor- 
beau,  from  whom  the  family  lineage  is  traced, 
having  come  over  to  England  from  the  main- 
land with  William  the  Conqueror. 

One  of  his  great-grandfathers  was  Robert 
Orr,  who  came  from  Ireland  to  America  under 
circumstances  which  marked  him  as  a thor- 
oughly independent  character.  His  father 
died,  leaving  the  estate  to  an  elder  son  when 
Robert  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  The 
young  man  had  one  day  brought  a horse  from 
the  stable  to  the  hitching  post  in  front  of  the 
home,  intending  to  take  a ride,  and  while  he 
was  in  the  house  making  final  preparations,  his 
elder  brother  removed  the  saddle  and  bridle, 
and  turned  the  animal  into  the  paddock,  re- 
marking that  he  was  master  of  the  premises. 
Resenting  this  action  as  an  unwarrantable  as- 
sumption of  authority,  the  younger  brother 


12 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


declared  his  intention  of  emigrating  to  Amer- 
ica, and  despite  the  pleadings  of  the  other 
members  of  the  family,  he  left  the  home  at 
Donegal,  and  came  to  these  western  shores, 
settling  in  the  Kishacoquillas  valley  in  Penn- 
sylvania, about  1772.  He  was  bold,  daring 
and  fun-loving,  with  a dash  of  recklessness  in 
his  make-up,  one  time  shooting  a pipe  from  the 
mouth  of  a fellow  traveler,  and  richly  enjoy- 
ing the  consternation  created  by  his  act. 

In  the  year  1775,  he  married  Fanny  Culbert- 
son, and  moved  to  Hannastown,  Westmoreland 
county.  Here  he  was  made  captain  of  the  mili- 
tary company  formed  to  protect  the  wilderness 
town  against  the  incursions  of  the  Indians.  In 
an  expedition  down  the  Ohio  river,  he  was  at- 
tacked by  the  savages  near  where  Cincinnati 
now  stands.  With  his  troops  he  made  gallant 
resistance,  but  they  were  finally  captured.  The 
wounded  were  killed  and  the  march  through 
the  woods  toward  the  Great  Lakes  was  begun. 
Captain  Orr  had  himself  been  wounded  with 
the  others,  but  his  injury  at  first  escaped  de- 
tection, and  with  grim  courage  he  bore  the 
pain  of  his  wound,  kept  his  place  in  the  file  of 
captives,  leaped  the  streams,  and  held  to  the 
long  march  with  the  determination  of  a Spar- 
tan. A squaw  finally  discovered  the  wounded 
arm,  and  bandaged  it,  and  the  painful  journey 


ANCESTRAL  TRADITIONS 


13 


was  then  continued.  Detained  by  the  Indians 
for  over  two  years,  Captain  Orr  had  no  means 
of  learning  the  fate  of  his  family  in  the  burn- 
ing of  Hannastown,  rumors  of  which  reached 
him  in  his  confinement.  At  last,  on  one  of  the 
marches  of  the  savages,  in  which  he  accom- 
panied his  captors,  the  party  was  met  by  some 
men  who  secured  his  release  by  offering  the 
Indians  two  fox  skins  and  a bottle  of  whiskey. 
Captain  Orr  hastened  to  Hannastown,  and 
there  learned  that  shortly  after  his  departure 
the  town  had  been  attacked  and  burned  by  the 
Indians.  In  the  hasty  flight  of  his  wife  from 
their  home,  the  baby  had  been  left  in  the  cradle. 
Inspired  by  mother  love,  she  dashed  back  into 
the  house,  and  secured  the  child  and,  evading 
the  besiegers,  brought  him  to  the  fort,  where 
she  joined  in  the  defense,  melting  down  her 
pewter  plates  to  make  bullets  for  the  defenders. 
The  rescued  babe  later  became  the  grandfather 
of  Hunter  Corbett. 

Robert  Orr  afterward  commanded  a regi- 
ment of  frontiersmen  in  the  expedition  of 
General  St.  Clair  into  Ohio,  and  in  the  retreat 
of  the  army,  his  regiment  was  chosen  to  pro- 
tect the  rear. 

Before  Allegheny  county  was  formed,  and 
while  the  courts  of  the  original  Westmoreland 
county  were  held  in  the  town  of  Pittsburgh, 


14 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Captain  Orr  served  as  sheriff  of  this  vast 
frontier  country.  Later  he  removed  from 
Hannastown  to  Sugar  Crest,  and  became  the 
first  sheriff  of  Armstrong  county.  He  died  in 
1833,  leaving  an  unimpeachable  record  of  pub- 
lic service,  and  a line  of  descendants  destined 
to  fill  worthy  and  honorable  positions  of  trust 
in  succeeding  years. 

Another  ancestor  of  Hunter  Corbett  was 
John  Mitchell,  who  also  came  to  Pennsylvania 
from  Ireland  under  the  stress  of  interesting 
circumstances,  in  which  the  tender  passion 
played  a constraining  part.  Mr.  Mitchell  was 
poor,  but  in  the  opinion  of  the  persons  most 
vitally  concerned,  this  was  not  a sufficient 
barrier  to  his  suing  for  the  hand  of  Jane,  the 
only  daughter  of  Sir  John  Ross.  Her  father, 
however,  was  of  contrary  mind,  and  the  young 
people  left  their  native  country  by  hidden 
trails,  which  ended  finally  in  a happy  home  in 
the  forest  land  of  Pennsylvania.  Here,  in 
course  of  time,  the  noble  ancestor  himself  came, 
bringing  forgiveness  and  blessing,  and  finding 
the  atmosphere  of  the  home  congenial,  per- 
manently established  himself  there. 

John  Mitchell’s  son,  William,  the  great- 
grandfather of  Hunter  Corbett,  served  his 
country  faithfully  in  the  War  of  Independence. 
He  fought  in  the  battle  of  Brandywine  with 


ANCESTRAL  TRADITIONS 


15 


commendable  valor,  and  in  the  Dry  Valley 
Cemetery  near  Lewistown,  Cumberland  county, 
Pa.,  a stone  now  marks  his  resting  place,  bear- 
ing the  inscription,  “William  Mitchell,  a sol- 
dier of  the  Revolution,  who  died  in  the  hope 
of  a glorious  resurrection.” 

Interesting  traditions  of  the  pioneer  period 
also  centered  in  one  of  the  grandfathers,  John 
Corbett.  In  the  summer  of  1800,  he  went  into 
that  part  of  Armstrong  county  lying  north  of 
Redbank  creek,  and  in  the  woods  about  three 
miles  from  where  the  town  of  Clarion  now 
stands,  he  cleared  a patch  of  land  and  planted 
it  in  potatoes.  At  the  close  of  the  season,  he 
dug  trenches  in  the  forest,  in  which  he  buried 
his  crop,  and  over  it  planted  bushes  and  scat- 
tered leaves  so  skillfully  as  to  completely  de- 
ceive the  Indians,  who  several  weeks  later 
ranged  through  that  section  of  the  country,  on 
their  annual  hunt.  In  the  spring  of  the  follow- 
ing year,  when  Mr.  Corbett  returned  from 
Mifflin  county,  where  he  had  retired  for  the 
winter,  he  found  that  the  red  men  had  fruit- 
lessly dug  holes  in  many  places  in  their  search 
for  the  coveted  supplies,  but  that  his  potatoes 
were  safe  and  sound  in  the  hidden  trenches. 
This  John  was  one  of  ten  brothers,  sons  of 
William  Corbett,  from  whom  descendants  have 
sprung  in  numbers  sufficient  to  exert  a dis- 


16 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


tinctly  religious  and  political  influence  in  the 
affairs  of  Clarion  county. 

The  other  grandfather,  Samuel  Culbertson 
Orr,  who  as  a babe  had  been  rescued  from 
the  burning  house  in  Hannastown,  was  a son 
in  every  sense  worthy  of  his  lion-hearted 
father.  He  was  the  first  sheriff  of  Westmore- 
land county,  after  the  division  which  resulted 
in  the  formation  of  Allegheny  county.  In  the 
summer  of  1804,  he  came  into  the  wilderness 
portion  of  Clarion  county,  purchased  land, 
cleared  the  timber  and  built  a cabin;  and  here 
he  brought  his  young  wife  the  following  year. 
This  wife  was  Margaret  Sloan,  a woman  of 
strong  character,  quiet  and  gentle,  but  firm  in 
her  convictions.  One  evening  a number  of 
rough  men  were  spending  the  evening  in  the 
Orr  home,  according  to  the  neighborly  fash- 
ion of  the  time,  and  their  conversation  be- 
came boisterous  and  profane.  In  the  midst 
of  their  wild  hilarity,  she  appeared  and  simply 
said,  “Gentlemen,  let  your  communication  be 
yea,  yea;  nay,  nay;  for  whatsoever  is  more 
than  these  cometh  of  evil,”  and  instantly  the 
swearing  ceased. 

Samuel  Culbertson  Orr  was  an  active  ruling 
Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Rehoboth 
for  forty  years,  and  in  the  nearly  half  a 
century’s  membership,  he  was  never  known  to 


ANCESTRAL  TRADITIONS 


17 


miss  a Communion  service.  Ten  children  were 
born  into  this  home.  The  eldest,  Robert, 
served  as  a missionary  in  Singapore  until  im- 
paired health  compelled  him  to'  return  to  Amer- 
ica, where  he  recovered  and  became  a pro- 
fessor of  languages  in  Jefferson  College.  An- 
other son,  Franklin,  became  a minister,  and 
served  congregations  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
other  sons  of  the  family  became  Elders  in  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  the  daughters  also 
were  married  to  men  who  were  active  in  the 
offices  of  the  church.  In  this  family  of  godly 
influence  Fanny  Culbertson  Orr,  the  mother 
of  Hunter  Corbett,  grew  into  womanhood  re- 
flecting the  character  of  her  ancestors. 


II 


THE  LEATHERWOOD  HOME 

ROSS  MITCHELL  CORBETT,  the 
father  of  Hunter  Corbett,  was  married 
to  Fanny  Culbertson  Orr,  February 
27th,  1834.  They  first  met  at  a singing  school, 
when  Miss  Orr  was  about  seventeen  years  of 
age,  and  Mr.  Corbett  twenty-two.  The  ac- 
quaintance thus  formed  was  consummated  by 
their  marriage  two  years  later.  The  wedding 
occasion  was  a red-letter  day  in  the  history 
of  the  community,  for  the  contracting  parties 
represented  two  of  the  most  influential  families 
of  that  region.  About  sixty  guests  rode  on 
horse-back  from  Kittanning,  Brookville,  and 
the  surrounding  country,  to  the  Orr  home- 
stead. The  ceremony  was  performed  by  the 
Rev.  John  A.  Core,  and  a bounteous  feast  was 
served.  The  evening  was  spent  in  playing 
games  and  singing  until  a late  hour.  Many  of 
the  guests  remained  over  night,  and  the  next 
day  about  thirty  couples  rode  over  to  the  home 
of  the  groom’s  father,  Mr.  John  C.  Corbett, 
to  the  “in-fair”  where  hospitality  and  enter- 
tainment were  continued  on  a like  generous 
scale. 


18 


THE  LEATHERWOOD  HOME  19 


Ross  Corbett  had  not  been  idle  in  anticipa- 
tion of  his  approaching  marriage.  He  had 
learned  the  trades  of  carpentry  and  mill- 
wrighting,  and  had  saved  his  earnings  and 
purchased  a farm  near  Strattonville.  This  in 
turn  he  sold  and  invested  in  the  purchase  of  a 
6oo-acre  tract  of  land  in  the  unbroken  forest 
of  Leatherwood.  The  first  week  after  the 
wedding,  he  spent  in  making  furniture, — 
stands,  chairs,  tables,  and  a dough-tray.  The 
following  week  he  shouldered  his  axe  and  left 
for  Leatherwood  in  company  with  his  brother, 
Isaac,  and  his  brother-in-law,  Hunter  Orr. 
Here  on  the  banks  of  the  creek,  they  felled 
the  trees  and  hewed  them  into  shape  for  build- 
ing, and  then  sent  word  to>  distant  neighbors 
to  come  and  help  with  the  raising.  Anticipat- 
ing the  usual  wild  carousal  customary  on  such 
occasions,  the  pioneers  gathered,  but  much  to 
the  chagrin  of  many  of  them,  learned  that 
whiskey  would  not  be  served  to  the  workers. 
This  was  an  innovation  far  in  advance  of  the 
custom  of  the  times,  and  two  of  the  men  left 
the  spot,  muttering  against  the  incivility  of 
such  treatment.  The  others,  however,  re- 
mained to  help,  and  thus  the  house  was  built 
without  the  aid  of  John  Barleycorn, — the  first 
so  erected  in  that  neighborhood. 

When  Ross  Corbett  brought  his  bride  to  this 


20 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


new  house  in  the  spring  of  1834,  their  belong- 
ings consisted  of  three  cows  and  their  calves, 
six  sheep,  several  pigs,  and  such  few  goods 
as  could  be  brought  over  the  rough  woodland 
roads  in  three  wagons.  Before  the  wagons 
could  be  turned  for  their  homeward  journey, 
it  was  necessary  to  cut  three  trees  from  the  for- 
est which  crowded  close  to  the  walls  of  the 
home.  During  the  summer  and  autumn 
months,  Mr.  Corbett  built  a sawmill.  This  was 
followed  by  a flouring  mill  the  next  year.  A 
large  barn  then  succeeded  in  the  list  of  build- 
ings, and  finally  the  brick  residence  constructed 
in  1841. 

On  the  eighth  of  December,  1835,  the  first 
babe  was  born  in  the  Corbett  home.  He  was 
named  Hunter  after  the  mother’s  brother.  The 
other  children  of  the  family  in  order  are: 
Elisa  Ann,  John  Newton,  Samuel  Culbertson, 
Mary  Lester,  Winfield  Scott,  and  David  Law- 
son.  The  four  younger  children  were  born  in 
the  brick  house  which  at  this  writing  is  occu- 
pied and  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation. 
The  old  log  house  in  which  the  elder  children 
were  born  is  still  standing  on  an  adjoining 
property. 

Ross  Corbett  and  his  wife  confessed  their 
faith  in  Christ,  and  united  with  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Licking  early  in  the  year  1836, 


THE  LEATHERWOOD  HOME  21 


shortly  after  their  son.  Hunter,  was  born.  The 
family  altar  was  soon  established,  and  prayers 
held  each  morning  and  evening.  As  the  head 
of  the  home,  Mr.  Corbett  was  a sterling  ex- 
ample of  consistency.  He  was  a man  of  tre- 
mendous energy,  but  in  the  thick  of  toil  never 
forgot  his  obligations  to  God.  During  the 
week,  it  was  his  custom  to  devote  a part  of 
the  noon  hour  and  a little  while  each  evening 
to  the  study  of  the  Sunday-School  lesson.  On 
Sabbath,  he  took  his  family  to  church  in  the 
wagon  or  on  horseback,  and  in  the  more  than 
fifty  years  in  which  he  served  as  elder  at  Lick- 
ing and  Leatherwood,  he  is  remembered  to 
have  been  absent  but  once,  and  on  this  occa- 
sion, his  failure  to  attend  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  his  eyes  were  swollen  shut  as  the  result 
of  bee  stings.  On  Sabbath  evenings  he  never 
failed  to  have  the  catechism  recited  in  the 
family  circle,  the  custom  being  for  the  young- 
est child  who  could  read  to  ask  the  questions, 
and  the  parents  to  take  turns  with  the  other 
children  in  reciting  the  answers.  So  carefully 
had  he  committed  these  answers  that  if  any  of 
the  group  failed,  he  could  immediately  give  the 
correct  answer  from  memory. 

While  his  children  were  attending  the  pub- 
lic school,  they  would  gather  for  study  each 
evening,  and  he  would  ask  their  spelling 


22 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


lessons,  and  hear  them  read,  and  keep  over- 
sight of  their  progress  in  other  branches.  In 
times  of  deep  snow  and  stormy  weather,  he 
would  take  his  own  and  his  neighbors’  children 
to  and  from  the  school  building. 

He  was  public-spirited,  generous,  and  kind 
to  the  poor.  He  showed  a liberal  spirit  toward 
all  religious  denominations  represented  in  the 
neighborhood,  contributing  to  the  support  of 
their  pastors,  and  giving  the  sites  for  two 
church  buildings  from  his  land.  He  was  a 
power  for  good  in  the  community,  and  the 
most  delicate  matters  were  quietly  and  tact- 
fully adjusted  by  him.  In  one  instance  a 
family  had  arranged  to  have  the  mother  sent 
to  the  poor-house.  Mr.  Corbett  went  directly 
to  these  neighbors,  and  showed  them  the  dis- 
honorableness of  such  action,  with  the  result 
that  the  mother  was  speedily  provided  with  a 
home  without  the  aid  of  the  county.  One  of 
his  oft-repeated  expressions  was,  “Never  give 
a verdict  until  you  have  heard  both  sides  of  the 
case.”  When  the  family  conversation  had  a 
tendency  to  drift  to  objectionable  topics,  he 
had  a way  of  changing  the  current  of  thought 
and  speech  by  remarking  with  a wave  of  his 
hand  and  a twinkle  of  the  eye,  “This  is  a moun- 
tainious  country,”  and  the  subject  was  immedi- 
ately changed. 


THE  LEATHERWOOD  HOME  23 


Mrs.  Corbett  also  did  her  part  to  develop 
worthy  character  in  the  lives  of  her  children. 
She  looked  well  to  the  ways  of  her  household, 
and  nothing  escaped  the  scrutiny  of  her  ob- 
servant eye,  from  the  folding  of  the  supplies  of 
linen  in  the  guest  chamber  to  the  last  scrap  of 
food  that  went  to  feed  the  chickens  at  the  back 
gate.  Endowed  with  an  exceptionally  clear 
mind  and  excellent  judgment,  and  unfailingly 
kind,  capable,  and  firm,  she  possessed  energy 
sufficient  to  direct  and  stimulate  a household 
of  workers.  The  prophet’s  chamber  was  kept 
in  constant  readiness  for  the  passing  men  of 
God,  and  her  hospitality  was  unbounded.  The 
interest  which  she  manifested  in  the  care  of 
household  affairs  was  multiplied  manyfold  in 
the  loving  devotion  and  concern  for  the  mem- 
bers of  her  home. 

Back  of  the  soldier-like  precision  which 
marked  the  preparation  for  Sabbath-School, 
from  the  committing  of  the  memory  verses, 
to  the  supplying  of  the  collection  money,  and 
the  week’s  duties  in  school  and  on  the  farm, 
every  member  of  the  family  knew  there  was  a 
consuming  love  within  her  heart,  taking  in  the 
entire  circle,  and  widening  constantly  to  em- 
brace the  neighborhood,  the  church,  and  the 
mission  work  of  many  lands.  Supreme  tests 
came  when  she  was  called  to  endure  affliction 


24. 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


in  the  death  of  beloved  babe,  grown  daughter, 
soldier  son,  and  devoted  grandchild,  and  in  still 
other  form,  when  with  broken  thigh  she  was 
compelled  to  relinquish  all  active  duty,  and  lie 
helpless  on  a bed  of  suffering  for  the  last  eight 
years  of  her  life.  But  none  of  these  things 
moved  her,  and  strong  in  faith,  love,  and  cheer- 
fulness, the  bow  of  her  spirit  abode  in  strength 
to  the  end. 

Under  the  tutelage  of  such  parents,  the  chil- 
dren grew  to  maturity.  A's  the  waters  of  the 
purling  Leatherwood  led  to  the  wheels  of  the 
Corbett  mills  and  contributed  their  energies 
to  the  maintenance  and  comfort  of  the  family, 
so  other  streams  of  industry,  affection,  and 
obedience  flowed  in  through  the  brick  man- 
sion which  bore  the  family  name,  and  en- 
riched the  lives  of  its  inmates  with  priceless 
legacies. 

At  the  breaking  up  of  the  home  in  1898,  the 
youngest  son  of  the  household  wrote  from 
Dubois,  Pa.,  to  his  missionary  brother  in 
China,-— “Can  you  think  of  a home  from  which 
more  real  blessings  went  out,  where  so  many 
were  made  welcome  and  entertained,  where 
such  kindness  and  hearty  greeting  were  given 
by  both  father  and  mother  on  the  return  visits 
of  their  children,  where  the  very  air  seemed  to 
be  filled  with  a welcome,  and  where  prayers 


THE  LEATHERWOOD  HOME  25 

! * ■ i 

were  offered,  and  blessings  given  to  the  ones 
who  had  gone  out  from  under  the  roof.  Have 
you  not  often  felt  that  God  was  hearing  and 
answering  the  prayers  that  went  up  to  Him 
night  and  morning?” 


Ill 


THE  MOLDING  OF  THE  MAN 

TO  a lad  reared  in  the  pines  of  Western 
Pennsylvania  eighty  years  ago,  life  had 
but  few  diversions.  The  season  for 
play  was  short,  and  the  introduction  to  toil 
was  early  given.  It  required  full  days  of 
strenuous  labor  to  fell  the  forest  trees,  extend 
the  area  of  cultivation,  plow  the  clearing,  plant, 
harvest,  thresh,  and  garner  the  grain.  In  well- 
ordered  households,  each  member  of  the  family 
had  his  allotted  task.  Children  grew  naturally 
into  this  environment,  and  unconsciously  ab- 
sorbed the  seriousness  of  life. 

The  first  recollections  of  Hunter  Corbett 
were  of  days  spent  in  the  shadow  of  the  forest 
home  in  the  company  of  his  mother  and  play- 
mate sister;  of  a busy  father  coming  and  going 
upon  his  errands  to  the  mill,  the  barn,  and  the 
clearing.  The  stream  outside  had  the  usual 
attraction  for  the  wide-awake  boy.  He  played 
on  its  banks,  and  learned  to  cast  the  hook  in 
its  pools  for  chub  and  “cat.”  Later  the  mill- 
dam  became  a favorite  spot  where  he  and  his 
brothers  learned  to  swim  with  the  ease  of  the 


26 


THE  MOLDING  OF  THE  MAN  27 


miller’s  ducks.  On  the  hills  the  boys  gath- 
ered their  supply  of  chestnuts  each  autumn, 
and  supplemented  their  store  with  the  hazel- 
nuts plucked  from  the  thick  bushes  by  the  road- 
side. Winter  came  with  its  deep  snow,  which 
often  lay  late  into  the  spring  season  under  the 
protecting  boughs  of  pine  and  hemlock.  This 
was  the  time  for  a country  boy’s  most  whole- 
some pleasure,  and  either  with  sleds  on  the  hill- 
side or  with  their  pet  calves  hitched  to  a crude 
sleigh  of  their  own  manufacture,  the  Corbett 
boys  made  the  woods  ring  with  their  shouts 
of  enjoyment.  The  trapping  of  rabbit  and  fox, 
and  the  shooting  of  squirrel  and  pheasant  gave 
added  spice  to  their  sport. 

But  play  was  a secondary  consideration  in 
the  home  where  Hunter  Corbett  was  reared. 
In  summer,  all  the  children  were  occupied  in 
the  fields,  and  in  winter  they  were  busy  in 
school.  As  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  ride 
a horse,  Hunter  was  given  a share  in  thresh- 
ing the  grain.  The  sheaves  were  laid  in  a 
great  circle  on  the  barn  floor,  and  the  horses 
were  ridden  round  and  round  this  straw-cov- 
ered course  till  the  grain  was  tramped  from  the 
heads.  The  straw  was  repeatedly  shaken,  and 
finally  thrown  aside  for  fodder  and  bedding, 
and  the  grain  was  scraped  together  and  passed 
through  a windmill  to  separate  it  from  the 


28 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


chaff.  In  this  labor  the  boy  helped,  first  in  rid- 
ing and  leading  the  horses,  and  later  in  keep- 
ing the  straw  stirred  and  turning  the  windmill. 

From  the  time  he  was  strong  enough  to  hold 
the  handles  of  the  plow,  and  scratch  the  soil 
among  the  stones  and  roots  of  the  clearing, 
the  boy  also  did  his  full  share  in  tilling  the 
steep  fields  on  the  Corbett  farm  at  Leather- 
wood.  As  a little  toiler  scarcely  larger  than 
the  bundles  of  grain  at  which  he  tugged,  the 
lot  fell  to  him  to  build  the  sheaves  upon  the 
wagons.  It  required  care  and  judgment  to 
build  a load  so  that  in  turning  on  a hillside  and 
driving  to  the  barn  the  wagon  might  not  be 
overturned,  nor  the  sheaves  slide  off.  Yet  so 
efficiently  was  the  work  done,  that  no  such 
accident  ever  occurred  with  his  wagons.  Under 
the  instruction  of  his  father,  he  learned  to  use 
the  tools  of  the  carpenter  and  to  adjust  the 
machinery  of  the  mills ; and  thus  unconsciously 
prepared  himself  for  duties  demanded  of  him 
at  a later  day,  and  in  a country  where  he  was 
often  thrown  upon  his  own  resources  to  solve 
problems  requiring  mechanical  knowledge  and 
skill. 

Ross  Corbett  was  a man  of  prodigious 
strength  and  energy,  and  quietly  pursued  his 
work,  whether  it  was  felling  trees,  pitching 
hay,  cradling  grain,  or  doing  any  of  the  myriad 


THE  MOLDING  OF  THE  MAN  29 


tasks  on  a farm,  with  apparently  little  thought 
that  his  companions  in  toil  were  not  as  strong 
and  capable  as  himself.  This  method  was 
rather  trying  to  an  ambitious  set  of  growing 
boys,  and  sometimes  urged  them  to  work  be- 
yond their  strength.  It  had  the  redeeming 
quality,  however,  of  making  them  unwilling 
to  be  left  behind  in  their  tasks,  and  of  giving 
them  the  ability  to  sustain  work  to  the  full 
capacity  of  their  powers,  a quality  which  has 
been  of  incalculable  value  throughout  their 
lives. 

The  training  Hunter  Corbett  received  in  the 
public  schools  near  his  home  was  not  always  of 
a high  order.  The  teachers  in  the  forties  of 
the  last  century  were  a pathetically  amusing 
aggregation,  long  on  birch  and  short  on  brains. 
One  of  Hunter’s  teachers  suffered  from  im- 
paired vision  and  wore  two  pair  of  glasses. 
But  even  then  he  could  not  see  distinctly.  The 
pupils  sat  in  two  long  rows,  one  on  either  side 
of  the  building.  Tricky  youngsters  were  al- 
ways working  on  the  short-sightedness  of  this 
teacher,  perpetrating  some  noisy  prank,  then 
gliding  away  from  the  scene  of  disturbance  to 
their  accustomed  seats.  He  retaliated  by  de- 
scending with  a big  wattle  upon  the  row  from 
which  the  noise  came,  and  trouncing  it  from 
end  to  end.  He  would  justify  this  action  by 


30 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


declaring  that  if  all  his  victims  did  not  de- 
serve punishment  on  this  occasion,  there  were 
other  times  when  they  did,  and  this  whipping 
would  even  up  matters.  The  teacher  had  a 
nephew  among  the  pupils,  whom  he  never 
touched  with  the  rod,  and  Hunter  observing 
this,  arranged  to  sit  next  the  favored  relative, 
and  when  the  angry  uncle  advanced  with  his 
avenging  rod,  he  would  crowd  his  seatmate 
so  closely  that  the  infuriated  man  could  not 
well  strike  one  without  hitting  the  other,  and 
so  he  frequently  escaped  punishment. 

One  of  these  men  set  for  the  fashioning  and 
refining  of  the  young  idea,  used  to  stand  be- 
fore the  school  and  threaten  the  smaller  boys 
with  a big  ruler,  telling  them  that  if  they  didn’t 
behave,  he  would  cut  off  their  heads  and  send 
them  home  to  their  mothers.  Then  when  the 
mothers  would  ask,  “What’s  the  matter,  little 
boys?”  they  would  have  to  reply,  “We  were 
such  bad  boys  the  teacher  had  to  strike  off  our 
heads.”  It  was  all  morally  certain  to'  happen, 
so  Hunter  Corbett  and  his  young  companions 
thought. 

There  was  a sugar  camp  in  the  bottom  land 
not  far  from  the  school  building,  and  the  owner 
never  lacked  offers  of  help  from  the  pupils 
during  the  sugar-making  season.  The  place 
was  beyond  the  sound  of  the  teacher’s  signal 


THE  MOLDING  OF  THE  MAN  31 

for  assembling,  and  it  had  magnetic  charms 
for  the  boys  during  the  dinner  hour.  It  some- 
times happened  that  the  passing  of  time  was 
not  realized  until  some  keen-eyed  youngster 
detected  in  the  distance  the  teacher  leaving  the 
school  building  on  the  hunt  for  his  delinquents. 
This  was  the  signal  for  circling  through  the 
woods  with  all  the  slyness  of  a fox  to  avoid 
the  master  and  get  into  the  school  room  and 
down  to  study  before  he  returned.  Rarely 
did  they  receive  punishment  when  they  ef- 
fected this  ruse  successfully,  but  otherwise  the 
birch  was  sure  to  descend  upon  them.  De- 
spite the  deficiencies  of  the  system  and  the 
limited  qualifications  of  many  of  the  teachers, 
a good  working  knowledge  of  the  three  R’s 
was  obtained  by  the  pupils.  The  oversight  of 
the  parents  in  the  Corbett  home  prevented  seri- 
ous deflections  from  the  line  of  duty,  and  cor- 
rected tendencies  toward  negligence  or  care- 
lessness in  habits  of  study;  and  the  children 
were  thus  prepared  for  pursuing  their  studies 
in  more  advanced  schools. 

Moreover,  the  training  received  in  the  home 
circle  on  the  Sabbath  was  of  a nature  calcu- 
lated to  develop  both  mind  and  character.  Be- 
fore the  church  was  organized  at  Leatherwood, 
the  family  attended  services  at  Licking,  five  or 
six  miles  distant.  Going  to  church  and  Sab- 


32 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


bath-School  was  accepted  as  much  a part  of 
the  day’s  program  as  eating  breakfast  or 
dinner.  The  parents  generally  rode  horse- 
back with  their  children  behind  the  saddle. 
Frequently  two  long  sermons  were  preached 
with  an  intermission  between  for  lunch  which 
usually  consisted  of  cakes.  The  boys’  share 
was  given  them  before  leaving  home  that  it 
might  be  carried  in  their  pockets.  It  had  al- 
ways disappeared  before  noon,  sometimes  even 
before  they  had  reached  the  church.  During 
the  afternoon  and  evening,  Scripture  verses 
and  the  catechism  were  committed  to  memory, 
and  recited,  and  thus  these  Sabbaths  were 
made  replete  with  positive  religious  train- 
ing. 

The  character  of  the  growing  boy  was  still 
further  affected  by  certain  events  and  incidents 
which  took  place  during  this  period.  When 
seven  years  of  age,  his  playmate  sister  was 
smitten  with  scarlet  fever  and  died.  The 
funeral  was  held  on  a bitterly  cold  day,  and  the 
sight  of  the  open  grave  in  the  snow  made  such 
an  impression  on  the  boy  that  never  afterward 
could  he  see  a body  lowered  into  the  ground  in 
the  winter  season  without  the  old  desolate  feel- 
ing of  separation. 

At  ten  years  of  age,  he  fell  from  the  driving 
platform  of  one  of  the  old-fashioned  horse 


THE  MOLDING  OF  THE  MAN  33 


power  generators,  which  connected  with  a 
threshing  machine  by  means  of  a tumbling 
shaft,  and  almost  lost  his  life.  He  was  caught 
on  the  great  circular  cog-wheel  surrounding  the 
platform,  and  carried  into  the  teeth  of  the  con- 
necting shaft,  where  he  was  so  firmly  wedged 
into  the  machinery  that  only  with  the  help  of 
an  axe  could  his  father  release  him.  The 
wheels  chewed  inch  bites  of  flesh  from  his 
body,  and  he  escaped  with  life  only  because 
caught  at  the  less  vital  parts.  This  accident 
confined  him  to  his  bed  for  six  months,  and 
left  scars  upon  his  body  which  he  carried  to 
the  grave. 

One  of  his  first  duties  after  his  recovery 
was  to  help  in  the  clearing  where  he  was  given 
some  of  the  lighter  work  in  cutting  away  the 
brush.  While  at  this  task  one  day  his  axe 
was  deflected  by  a branch,  and  cut  off  two 
of  his  toes.  The  doctor  was  speedily  sent  for, 
but  could  not  be  found.  Ross  Corbett  promptly 
decided  to  undertake  the  surgical  operation, 
and  sew  on  the  dissevered  members  himself. 
He  did  so,  and  bound  the  injured  foot  to  a 
large  shoe-sole;  and  later  the  doctor  inspected 
the  work  and  declared  the  operation  to  have 
been  performed  as  well  as  he  himself  could 
have  done  it.  This  second  accident  had  the 
effect  of  arousing  prayer  in  many  homes  of 


34  HUNTER  CORBETT 

the  community  in  behalf  of  the  unfortunate 
boy. 

When  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  Hunter 
Corbett’s  most  intimate  boy  friend,  George 
Boyles,  was  killed  by  a falling  tree,  and  this 
accident  also  left  a deep  impression  upon  his 
mind,  making  him  feel  the  need  for  prepara- 
tion for  eternity.  He  was  even  then  as  he  had 
been  for  years,  a praying  boy,  but  did  not  real- 
ize his  need  of  taking  Jesus  as  his  personal 
Savior.  There  is  something  pathetic  in  the 
loneliness  of  the  lad,  retiring  from  the  family 
each  evening,  and  praying  to  God  in  secret 
under  a certain  tree  near  the  old  home.  It 
escaped  the  observance  of  his  father,  but  his 
mother  frequently  detected  his  absence,  and 
failing  to  discover  the  reason,  plied  him  with 
questions,  which  had  the  effect  of  making  the 
lad  still  more  vigilant  and  reserved.  In  these 
seasons  of  devotion,  the  boy  was  being  trained 
like  Samuel.  Although  the  definite  decision 
was  not  made  until  several  years  later,  when 
God  spoke  he  also  was  ready  to  respond, 
“Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth.” 


IV 


IN  THE  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

THE  horizon  of  Hunter  Corbett’s  life  ex- 
panded into  a wider  circle  with  the  de- 
cision of  his  father  to  send  him  to  the 
Academy  at  Elder’s  Ridge,  Pa.  This  was  a 
well-known  secondary  school  at  that  time.  A 
Scotch-Irish  pastor  of  heroic  mold  had 
founded  the  institution  in  the  heart  of  his  par- 
ish, and  ambitious  boys  from  among  the  best 
families  of  Western  Pennsylvania  gathered 
here  for  their  preparatory  training. 

It  was  on  an  April  day  in  1855,  when  Ross 
Corbett  drove  the  forty  miles  between  Leather- 
wood  and  Elder’s  Ridge,  taking  his  eldest 
son  and  a horse-hair  trunk,  in  which  the  young 
man  had  packed  his  belongings.  Arriving  at 
the  home  of  Mr.  David  McComb,  where  a 
room  had  been  previously  engaged,  a welcome 
was  extended  by  the  family  and  the  students 
lodging  there;  and  the  next  morning  the  father, 
in  an  open  carriage,  returned  to  Leatherwood 
in  a drenching  rain.  Before  leaving  home, 
Hunter  had  split  the  oak  rails  with  which  he 
had  fenced  forty  acres  of  his  father’s  farm, 
35 


36 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


and  the  change  from  this  vigorous  life  in  the 
open  to  that  of  a student  was  too  sudden  for 
nature  to  accommodate  herself  readily,  and  the 
first  few  weeks  at  “The  Ridge”  were  extremely 
depressing.  He  soon  found  himself,  and 
happily  caught  the  spirit  of  the  school,  and 
in  an  atmosphere  where  every  student  worked, 
he  found  congenial  employment  for  his  mind. 

The  forces  here  contributed  to  develop  an 
energetic  type  of  student.  The  family  circles 
in  which  the  youths  found  themselves  estab- 
lished showed  a genuine  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  these  boys,  both  in  the  home  and . in  the 
school.  It  was  as  if  that  whole  Scotch-Irish 
community  looked  on  to  applaud  every  worthy 
effort.  They  cheered  their  favorites  in  the 
annual  literary  contests  and  exhibitions,  they 
knelt  with  them  night  and  morning  in  family 
prayers,  they  prepared  little  surprises  for  them, 
they  opened  their  homes  to  these  pupils  as 
though  they  had  been  their  own  children,  and 
they  followed  them  with  loving  interest  to 
classroom  and  playground.  The  homes  at 
which  the  students  boarded  were  sometimes 
three  or  four  miles  distant  from  the  Academy, 
yet  they  took  their  daily  tramps  to  and  from 
the  school,  recited  their  Latin  rules  on  the 
way,  and  developed  brawn,  brain,  and  a 
mastery  of  inconvenience  with  a cheerful  spirit. 


IN  SCHOOLS  OF  PROPHETS  37 

In  the  school  room  there  were  processes  in 
operation  which  made  for  scholarship  of  a 
commendable  order,  coupled  with  character  of 
sterling  worth.  The  modus  operandi  was  one 
of  example  rather  than  method,  and  the  stu- 
dents invariably  learned  its  secret  and  spelled 
work  into  their  after  lives.  There  were 
scholars  of  fine  mind,  famous  “Greek  grind- 
ers,” keen  mathematicians,  and  inspiring  in- 
structors in  Latin  and  English,  who  sat  in  the 
professors’  chairs  in  this  golden  age  of  Elder’s 
Ridge  Academy.  King  among  them  was 
“Pater”  Donaldson,  the  principal,  who  im- 
parted to  every  student  who  came  in  close 
touch  with  him,  the  desire  to  get  to  work  and 
keep  working.  This  man  rose  at  five  o’clock 
each  morning,  read  his  Bible  in  the  original 
languages,  outlined  the  work  to  be  done  on  his 
farm  during  the  day,  taught  in  the  Academy 
from  9 A.  M.  till  noon,  prepared  his  weekly 
sermon  and  prayer  meeting  lecture,  and  min- 
istered to  the  needs  of  the  members  of  two 
widely  scattered  congregations  during  the 
afternoon  and  evening,  and  preached  in  both 
his  churches  each  Sabbath.  Dying  at  the  age 
of  eighty-one,  it  was  to  leave  this  record  of 
results  in  the  church : Sermons  preached, 
6893;  Prayer  meetings  held,  2596;  com- 
munions, 405 ; admitted  to  the  church  on  con- 


38 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


fession  of  faith,  1720;  adults  baptized,  116; 
children  baptized,  1121;  marriage  ceremonies 
performed,  324;  visits  to  the  afflicted,  2553; 
funerals  officiated  at,  437. 

Not  less  striking  is  the  record  of  his  labors 
in  the  Academy,  where  he  left  the  impress  of 
his  powerful  personality  on  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  his  pupils.  During  his  life  time,  no 
less  than  2600  students  sat  under  his  instruc- 
tion; of  these  about  160  became  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  1 1 went  to  foreign  lands  as  mis- 
sionaries; nearly  100  were  admitted  to  the  bar; 
about  the  same  number  became  practicing 
physicians.  There  is  also  a long  roll  of  judges, 
editors,  college  presidents,  and  professors, 
high-school  and  Academy  instructors,  state  and 
county  officials,  and  best  of  all,  the  impetus 
given  to  the  intelligence  and  morals  of  a large 
rural  community  traceable  in  marked  degree 
to  the  high  standard  set  by  one  honest  hard- 
working man.  From  among  his  “boys,”  two 
became  moderators  of  the  General  Assembly, 
one  a secretary  of  The  Board  of  Ministerial 
Relief,  and  one  rode  on  the  Staff  of  Sherman 
from  “Atlanta  to  the  sea.”  It  was  from  this 
teacher  in  his  preparatory  instruction  as  from 
his  parents  in  the  Leatherwood  home,  that 
Hunter  Corbett  unconsciously  absorbed  his 
genius  for  labor. 


IN  SCHOOLS  OF  PROPHETS  39 


Late  in  the  summer  of  1855  y°ung  man 
returned  to  Leatherwood  and  entered  a store 
which  his  father  had  purchased,  intending  to 
have  his  son  trained  as  a merchant.  The  store 
was  not  wholly  distasteful  to  him,  but  he  felt 
there  was  more  congenial  work  in  professional 
lines,  requiring  further  education.  He  had  an 
inclination  toward  the  practice  of  medicine, 
and  during  the  winter  he  read  several  medical 
volumes.  The  conviction  that  he  should  pur- 
sue his  studies  further  became  so  strong  that 
he  went  to  his  father  and  told  him  his  desire. 
That  his  son  should  not  follow  the  course 
marked  out  for  him  was  a disappointment  to 
Ross  Corbett,  who  feared  it  might  indicate  a 
streak  of  instability  in  the  boy,  for  whom  he 
had  planned,  as  he  thought,  better  things. 
With  characteristic  discretion,  he  said  little, 
but  prepared  the  way  for  Hunter’s  entrance 
to  an  Academy  which  had  been  recently  opened 
at  Leatherwood.  Here  the  earnestness  of  the 
young  student  revealed  itself  in  his  devotion 
to  his  lessons.  With  the  regularity  of  clock- 
work, he  rose  each  morning  at  four,  studied 
till  breakfast  at  dawn.  Then  he  resumed  work 
at  his  books  till  ten  o’clock,  saddled  his  horse, 
and  rode  to  the  Academy,  committing  and  re- 
citing rules  by  the  way  and  remaining  in  the 
classroom  until  three  in  the  afternoon,  when 


40 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


he  returned  home  and  ate  the  hearty  meal 
which  his  mother  had  prepared  for  him,  then 
went  back  to  his  books  and  studied  diligently 
until  ten  o’clock  each  evening.  Six  hours  of 
sleep,  and  two  meals  a day,  with  every  moment 
of  time  he  could  command  devoted  to  his 
books,  was  the  program  for  the  entire  term. 

In  the  autumn,  he  returned  again  to  Elder’s 
Ridge,  and  the  following  spring  left  the  Acad- 
emy to  attend  Jefferson  College,  where  he 
entered  the  Sophomore  class  in  its  closing  term. 
Jefferson  College  was  then  at  the  height  of  its 
career.  It  was  to  Western  Pennsylvania  what 
Princeton  was  to  New  Jersey,  and  a measure 
of  spirited  rivalry  existed  between  the  two  in- 
stitutions. Of  the  instructors  who  here  made 
deepest  impression  upon  the  mind  of  Hunter 
Corbett  were  the  polished  president,  Dr.  Jo- 
seph Alden,  and  the  versatile  professor  of 
Mathematics,  John  Fraser. 

Hunter  Corbett  was  graduated  in  the  class 
of  i860.  Forty-four  persons  received  their 
diplomas  on  Commencement  Day.  Of  these, 
eighteen  studied  for  the  ministry,  and  as  the 
path  of  a student  theologically  inclined  and 
hailing  from  Western  Pennsylvania,  invariably 
led  from  Jefferson  College  to  the  Allegheny 
Seminary,  Beatty  Hall  became  the  resort  for 
the  majority  of  these  prospective  divines.  The 


IN  SCHOOLS  OF  PROPHETS  41 


park  in  front  of  the  site  at  that  time  was  a 
common  where  goats,  sheep,  and  cattle  were 
indiscriminately  herded  for  the  Pittsburgh 
markets.  The  hall  was  a four-storied  fire-trap, 
which  escaped  the  ravages  of  flame,  despite  the 
short-sightedness  of  the  authorities,  and  was 
full  of  students  from  cellar  to  garret.  Hunter 
Corbett  roomed  on  the  fourth  floor  for  two 
years.  Like  the  other  students,  he  cared  for 
his  own  room.  The  furnishings  were  not  such 
as  to  develop  pampered  aristocrats.  Nails  and 
hooks  driven  or  screwed  into  the  wall  and  cov- 
ered with  a calico  curtain  served  as  a ward- 
robe; a chair  or  two,  a pine  table,  with  box- 
like shelves  for  books  and  papers,  a bedstead 
with  a hard  mattress  and  scanty  covering,  a 
stand  with  washbowl,  basin,  and  towels,  a 
wrought-iron  poker  for  the  grate,  a coal- 
scuttle, and  a broom  behind  the  door,  com- 
pleted the  furnishings.  Four  professors 
looked  after  the  theological  training  of  the  160 
students  then  in  attendance.  Their  names, 
Elliott,  Jacobus,  Plumer,  and  Wilson,  still 
abide  as  household  words  in  very  many  Pres- 
byterian homes,  and  the  aroma  of  their  con- 
secrated influence  still  lingers  in  many  hearts. 

Feeling  that  a broadened  education  might 
be  secured  by  himself  as  a western  man  in  an 
eastern  school,  Hunter  Corbett  decided  to 


42 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


change  from  Allegheny  and  take  his  last  year 
in  Princeton  Seminary.  The  New  Jersey 
school  was  then  in  the  jean  and  homespun  stage 
of  its  history.  It  had  few  buildings,  little  en- 
dowment, but  plenty  of  brainy  students,  and 
its  aim  was  then  as  now  to  send  out  a scholarly 
ministry.  Of  the  instructors  who  left  their 
impress  upon  Hunter  Corbett  during  this 
year’s  stay  in  Princeton,  Dr.  Charles  Hodge 
was  easily  chief.  There  was  no  intimate  social 
tie  which  bound  the  two  men  together,  and 
yet  the  admiration  begotten  in  the  mind  of 
the  pupil  for  his  teacher  was  ardent  and  con- 
tinued to  the  end  of  life. 

Dr.  Charles  Hodge  neither  knew  nor  sought 
to  know  his  students,  and  yet  he  bound  them 
to  him  with  the  strong  hooks  of  a master’s 
commanding  personality.  Whatever  the  im- 
pressions may  be  upon  a student’s  mind  in 
reading  his  Systematic  Theology,  and  how- 
ever varied  may  be  the  estimate  of  his  critics 
regarding  his  conclusions,  his  pupils,  in  hear- 
ing his  lectures,  were  convinced  of  the  hu- 
mility and  evident  fair-mindedness  of  their  in- 
structor in  seeking  answers  to  truth.  “We  are 
all  poor  shoats,”  was  the  oft-repeated  expres- 
sion with  which  he  summarized  the  efforts  of 
himself  and  others  in  attempting  to  learn  the 
mysteries  of  the  Word.  Yet  so  conscientiously 


IN  SCHOOLS  OF  PROPHETS  43 


and  honestly  did  he  deal  with  the  views  of  his 
opponents  that  many  a student  who  entered  his 
classroom  with  a polemic  chip  upon  his 
shoulder  often  stayed  after  recitation  to  pre- 
sent it  as  a love  token  to  his  instructor,  and 
thank  him  for  the  fairness  of  his  contention. 

As  he  had  a vacant  period  at  the  hour  when 
Dr.  Hodge  lectured  each  day  to  the  Middle 
Class,  Hunter  Corbett  took  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  of  joining  in  the  recitations,  and 
so  secured  an  extra  year’s  work  in  Theology, 
and  in  this  way  added  materially  to  his  store  of 
knowledge. 


V 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  SPIRIT 

CONTEMPORANEOUS  with  his  train- 
ing in  the  schools  which  he  attended, 
Hunter  Corbett  experienced  a develop- 
ment of  his  religious  nature  in  response  to  the 
call  of  the  Spirit.  The  evening  before  he  left 
his  home  to  attend  Elder’s  Ridge  Academy, 
his  mother  came  to  his  room,  and  placing  a 
small  morocco-bound  Bible  upon  his  table, 
asked  that  he  would  read  a chapter  from  it  each 
night.  He  gave  her  the  desired  promise,  and 
although  that  little  volume  has  long  since  been 
laid  aside,  the  habit  then  formed  was  faith- 
fully continued  until  death. 

At  the  close  of  his  first  term  at  the  Academy, 
he  called  at  the  home  of  the  principal  to  say 
good-by.  He  was  never  able  to  get  away 
from  the  parting  words  of  his  instructor,  who 
said  to  him  with  his  wonted  simplicity,  “You 
have  been  a good  student,  Hunter,  and  I trust 
that  you  will  be  as  good  a Christian.”  The 
words  followed  him  through  the  long  forty- 
mile  drive  to  his  home,  and  with  other  goodly 
impressions  which  came  trooping  out  of  the 
44 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  SPIRIT  45 


past,  warmed  his  heart  to  the  mercy  of  God 
and  brought  him  to  the  realization  of  his  need 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  his  personal  Savior.  A few 
months  after  he  returned  from  the  Academy, 
he  made  a public  profession  of  his  faith  in  the 
Lord  and  united  with  the  Presbyterian  church 
at  Leatherwood.  During  the  quiet  hours  of 
the  winter  weeks  which  followed,  while  he  sold 
goods  in  the  little  store  at  Rockville  near  his 
father’s  home,  came  the  conviction  that  he 
should  seek  further  education  and  devote  his 
energies  to  the  uplifting  of  his  fellowmen.  His 
mind  inclined  toward  medicine,  and  in  line  with 
this  desire  the  decision  was  made  to  become  a 
doctor. 

Other  forces,  however,  had  already  been  in 
operation  and  were  still  working,  which  were 
to  lead  him  into  a different  channel  of  service. 
It  was  toward  the  close  of  his  Junior  year  in 
Jefferson  College  that  occasion  arose  to  make  a 
double  decision.  The  revival  of  1857,  which 
at  the  time  had  SO'  stirred  the  institution  and 
the  town  of  Cannonsburg,  was  now  a matter  of 
past  history.  The  students  who  had  been  af- 
fected by  it  had  for  the  most  part  gone  else- 
where, but  occasionally  one  of  them  came  back 
to  recount  the  evidences  of  the  Spirit’s  power. 
A prayer  meeting  still  held  at  day-break  each 
morning  no  doubt  deepened  the  religious  life 


46 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


among  the  students  with  whom  Hunter  Cor- 
bett associated.  But  aside  from  all  transitory 
efforts  and  feelings,  there  was  for  him  the 
ever-abiding  question,  “Lord,  what  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do  ?”  His  was  not  such  a nature  as 
could  resist  the  Spirit  as  He  sounded  His  call. 
With  the  young  man  there  was  the  conviction 
that  if  he  were  sincere  in  his  consecration,  and 
should  be  led  into  the  Gospel  ministry,  it  would 
be  into  service  for  his  Master  in  the  foreign 
field,  and  from  the  ministry  and  the  work  of  a 
missionary  he  shrank,  feeling  his  utter  un- 
worthiness to  proclaim  the  Gospel  message 
aright. 

About  this  time  he  returned  to  Leatherwood 
for  his  annual  vacation.  While  at  home  he 
called  upon  Mrs.  Wm.  Henry,  the  widow  of 
an  elder,  who  for  many  months  had  patiently 
suffered  as  a shut-in.  This  woman  might  be 
said  to  belong  to  the  school  of  Anna,  serving 
God  with  fasting  and  prayers  night  and  day. 
The  two  chatted  together  for  some  minutes, 
and  the  young  man  had  expressed  his  sym- 
pathy for  the  elderly  woman  in  her  affliction, 
and  she  answered  by  saying  it  was  true  she 
could  do  very  little  work  now,  but  she  could 
pray;  pray  for  her  family,  her  church,  and  her 
neighbors;  and  then  turning  to  her  visitor  and 
looking  straight  into  his  eyes,  she  said,  “I 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  SPIRIT  47 


have  long  been  praying  for  you  that  you  may 
become  a minister  and  be  used  for  the  salva- 
tion of  many  souls.”  Deeply  touched  by  these 
words,  Hunter  Corbett  immediately  left  the 
room.  Returning  to  college,  it  was  to  continue 
in  prayer,  seeking  simply  to  know  the  will  of 
God  concerning  himself.  He  earnestly  sought 
to  give  an  honest  answer  to  the  Heavenly 
Father  why  he  should  not  preach  His  Gospel 
to  perishing  men.  He  found  there  was  no 
satisfying  reason  that  he  could  give  why  he 
should  not  preach  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 
He  found  further  that  the  conviction,  “Woe 
is  me  if  I preach  not  the  Gospel,”  was  burned 
into  the  fiber  of  his  soul.  From  this  time  the 
surrender  was  more  easily  made,  and  the  ques- 
tion of  minister  and  missionary  was  settled  in 
one  decision.  And  it  was  unfalteringly  de- 
termined. The  fact  which  later  came  to  his 
notice,  that  of  the  more  than  one  hundred  stu- 
dents in  his  classes  at  Allegheny  and  Prince- 
ton Seminaries,  he  was  the  only  one  to  go  to 
the  foreign  field,  did  not  deter  him  nor  shake 
in  the  least  his  convictions  of  personal  responsi- 
bility. Without  entering  into  judgment  upon 
the  conclusions  reached  by  others  as  to  their 
particular  fields  of  labor,  the  call  of  the  Spirit 
sounded  clear  and  unmistakable  to  him : 
“Your  field  is  China.  Go  to  that  part  of  the 


48 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


world,  and  with  My  help,  make  of  it  the  most 
you  can.”  That  the  particular  field  specified 
should  be  China,  was  probably  due  to  impres- 
sions made  in  childhood,  in  hearing  his  uncle 
Robert  Orr  tell  of  the  needs  of  the  Celestial 
Empire. 

Another  glimpse  behind  the  scenes  may  here 
be  given  to  illustrate  how  prayer  was  operat- 
ing among  the  silent  forces  which  played  upon 
the  life  of  Hunter  Corbett.  On  his  way  from 
Leatherwood  to  Allegheny  in  i860,  he  visited 
at  Elder’s  Ridge,  and  from  Mrs.  McComb,  at 
whose  home  he  had  boarded  while  attending 
the  Academy,  he  learned  a hidden  chapter. 
His  friend  expressed  her  pleasure  upon  hear- 
ing that  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  Seminary, 
and  said  to  him,  “It  is  just  as  we  hoped,  for 
often  when  I heard  you  say  you  intended  to 
be  a physician,  I would  retire  to  my  room  and 
ask  God  not  to  allow  you  to  become  a doctor, 
but  to  make  of  you  a minister  instead.” 

Of  course  there  were  many  friends  of  good 
intention  fifty-five  years  ago  who  were  ready 
to  give  advice  upon  the  foolishness  of  Hunter 
Corbett’s  “throwing  himself  away  among  the 
heathen.”  In  common  with  others,  Seminary 
Professors  emphasized  a call  to  a home  church 
as  a call  sufficient.  When  he  went  to  one  of  his 
instructors  near  the  close  of  the  Seminary 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  SPIRIT  49 


course  for  the  indorsement  required  by  the 
Foreign  Board,  the  sage  man  asked  him,  “Did 
you  preach  for  a vacant  church  last  vacation?” 

“Yes.” 

“Did  not  the  church  contemplate  extending 
you  a call  ?” 

“Yes.” 

“Was  this  not  a temptation  for  you  to  ac- 
cept ?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well,  do  you  not  consider  it  a call  of  the 
Lord?” 

“No,  I consider  it  a call  of  the  devil.” 

So  firmly  rooted  was  the  conviction  he 
should  go  to  China,  that  any  suggestion  to  re- 
main in  the  homeland  was  as  the  voice  of  the 
tempter. 

His  response  to  the  call  of  the  Spirit  led 
Hunter  Corbett  to  make  most  thorough  prep- 
aration to  preach  the  Gospel.  His  decision  to 
labor  in  China  did  not  have  the  effect  of  mak- 
ing him  slight  his  duties  in  the  classroom,  as 
though  this  work  would  prove  worthless  in  a 
strange  land  and  language;  but  on  the  con- 
trary, it  urged  him  to  master  every  detail  as 
something  which  might  have  its  appropriate 
setting  in  his  future  work.  He  rarely  preached 
while  he  was  in  attendance  upon  the  sessions 
of  the  Seminary,  believing  that  it  was  a stu- 


50 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


dent’s  first  duty  to  give  his  time  and  energy  to 
learning  the  assigned  lessons,  and  that  if  this 
was  thoroughly  done  there  was  not  room  in 
the  curriculum  for  the  proper  preparation  and 
delivery  of  sermons  to  congregations.  He  was 
keenly  alert  to  embrace  opportunities  of  serv- 
ice, however,  and  each  Sabbath  forenoon  gath- 
ered in  the  Central  church  at  Pittsburgh  a 
dozen  boys  who  did  not  attend  Sabbath-School, 
and  instructed  them  in  Bible  truths  and  oc- 
casionally visited  them  in  their  homes.  On 
Sabbath  afternoons,  he  conducted  a Bible  class 
composed  mainly  of  factory  people  in  Alle- 
gheny, and  the  attendance  grew  to  fifty.  He 
held  himself  in  readiness  for  supply  service 
with  the  coming  of  vacations,  but  as  no  oppor- 
tunity presented  itself  at  the  close  of  his  first 
year  in  the  Seminary,  he  engaged  to  work  upon 
an  oil  well  three  miles  from  Oil  City.  He  man- 
aged the  drill  on  the  shift  from  noon  till  mid- 
night, and  helped  in  establishing  one  of  the  two 
best  drilling  records  in  this  region  during  that 
interesting  period  of  the  development  of  the  oil 
industry  in  Western  Pennsylvania. 

His  vacation  during  the  following  year  was 
spent  in  supplying  pulpits  in  Clarion  Pres- 
bytery, and  his  ministrations  there  met  with 
marked  favor.  During  the  summer  he  was  li- 
censed by  the  Clarion  Presbytery,  which  met 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  SPIRIT  51 


at  the  Rockland  church.  The  following  De- 
cember, during  the  Christmas  holidays,  he 
served  under  the  Christian  Commission  in 
ministering  to  the  soldiers  in  Parole  Camp, 
two  miles  from  Annapolis,  Md.  When  he 
reached  the  place  he  went  directly  to  the  officer 
in  charge  and  stated  his  object  in  coming.  He 
was  bluntly  told  that  he  had  a hard  job  on  his 
hands,  but  was  given  permission  to  attempt  it. 

That  afternoon  he  met  some  of  the  men  in 
a little  assembly,  established  friendly  relations 
in  the  first  few  sentences  of  a brief  address, 
and  ever  after  received  a respectful  hearing 
from  the  soldiers.  In  the  hospital  tents  he 
wrote  letters  for  the  wounded,  and  prayed  with 
them,  comforted  the  dying,  forwarded  their 
farewell  messages  to  distant  friends,  and  in 
many  ways  rendered  acceptable  service.  It  was 
further  preparation  for  future  emergencies  in 
a foreign  land.  After  more  than  a month’s 
service  under  the  commission  he  returned  to 
Princeton,  intending  to  resume  work  among 
the  soldiers  at  the  close  of  the  Senior  term,  as 
the  Foreign  Board  to  which  he  had  applied 
had  been  so  depleted  in  its  finances  by  the  war 
that  there  was  no  immediate  prospect  of  his 
being  sent  abroad.  About  three  weeks  before 
the  close  of  the  term,  however,  he  received  a 
communication  from  the  secretary  at  New 


52 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


York,  asking  if  he  could  at  once  make  ready 
to  take  the  place  of  another  who  had  been  un- 
expectedly prevented  from  going  to  China  as 
had  been  arranged.  He  was  not  yet  ordained, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  have  a meeting  of  Pres- 
bytery called  for  this  purpose.  This  he  ar- 
ranged for  through  his  pastor,  Rev.  Joseph 
Mateer. 

Two  years  previous,  he  had  met  Miss  Lizzie 
Culbertson,  of  Derry,  Pa.,  and  in  the  inter- 
vening time,  a mutual  understanding  concern- 
ing their  affections  had  been  concluded  but  no 
marriage  day  had  been  set,  owing  to  the  un- 
certainties in  which  their  conditions  placed 
them.  Miss  Culbertson’s  father  had  died  when 
she  was  still  a child,  and  her  mother  when  she 
was  sixteen  years  of  age.  She  had  found  a 
home  with  her  brothers,  and  later  while  se- 
curing her  education  in  the  families  of  Rev. 
Alex  Donaldson  and  Mr.  Jas.  Elder,  at  Elder’s 
Ridge.  She  had  been  graduated  from  Blairs- 
ville  Seminary  in  1858  and  had  gone  into  the 
southwest  to  Wapunucka,  Indian  Territory, 
to  teach  in  one  of  the  Indian  schools  there,  but 
the  conditions  arising  out  of  the  Civil  War 
compelled  her  to  return  to  the  east  again. 
Beautiful  in  spirit,  she  left  a trail  of  gracious 
memories  in  all  the  places  of  her  sojourning. 
She  was  at  this  time  teaching  in  the  Seminary 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  SPIRIT  53 


at  Blairsville,  and  Hunter  Corbett,  hearing  the 
imperative  call  of  the  Spirit  in  the  opportunity 
to  go  at  once  to  the  foreign  field,  laid  the  case 
before  her.  She  acquiesced  in  his  plans  and 
they  were  married  on  June  4th,  1863,  at  the 
home  of  Mr.  James  Elder. 

Shortly  after  the  ceremony,  they  left  for 
Leatherwood,  and  in  the  church  at  that  place 
the  ordination  service  occurred  five  days  later. 
The  many  relatives  and  friends  gathered  from 
far  and  near  and  made  the  occasion  a fare- 
well reception.  Dr.  Elliott,  the  Senior  Pro- 
fessor of  Western  Seminary,  preached  the  ser- 
mon, and  after  the  ordination  a generous  free- 
will offering  was  taken  and  presented  to  the 
missionaries,  but  at  their  request  it  was  sent 
directly  to  the  New  York  Board. 

As  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  was  at  this 
time  under  government  contract  for  the  trans- 
portation of  troops,  passage  could  not  be  se- 
cured over  their  line,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
go  to  New  York  via  Pittsburgh  and  Cleveland. 
After  visiting  relatives  in  Ohio,  the  bridal 
couple  went  on  to  the  eastern  seaport  the  latter 
part  of  June.  Hunter  Corbett  had  meantime 
arranged  a bond  of  $1000  to  be  paid  for  a sub- 
stitute in  case  his  name  should  be  selected  in 
the  draft.  It  was  in  keeping  with  the  patriotic 
action  of  the  family  to  which  he  belonged, — 


54 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


his  brother,  Newton,  giving  his  life  in  battle, 
his  brother,  Samuel,  serving  as  a soldier 
throughout  the  entire  duration  of  the  war,  and 
even  his  father  and  young  brother,  Scott,  vol- 
unteering for  action  in  the  hasty  call  for  troops 
when  Pennsylvania  was  threatened  with  in- 
vasion. From  New  York,  on  July  3,  even 
while  the  savage  guns  of  Gettysburg  were 
booming  in  the  crucial  battle  of  the  Civil  War, 
their  sailing  vessel  weighed  anchor  and 
dropped  down  the  bay  and  out  into  the  sea, 
on  the  start  of  her  long  voyage  across  the  ocean 
and  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  on  to 
the  ports  of  China. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Calvin  Mateer  took  passage 
on  the  same  vessel, — the  St.  Paul.  The  ex- 
periences of  the  passengers  during  the  weary 
six  months  it  required  to  bring  them  to  their 
desired  haven  proved  to  be  among  the  most 
trying  in  the  eventful  lives  of  these  mission- 
aries. They  were  in  constant  fear  of  being 
captured  by  privateers.  It  was  a hundred  days 
before  they  learned  the  result  of  the  conflict 
at  Gettysburg.  The  passage  around  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  was  so  rough  that  they  were 
tossed  about  in  their  staterooms  like  baggage 
in  the  hands  of  a truckman.  They  were  finally 
compelled  to  use  ropes  to  tie  themselves  in 
their  berths  to  prevent  being  flung  to  the  floor. 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  SPIRIT  55 


They  were  drenched  with  the  salt  spray,  and 
their  books  and  baggage  hopelessly  damaged. 
They  were  becalmed  for  seventeen  days  near 
the  equator,  with  a scorching  sun  beating  upon 
the  deck  with  the  fierceness  of  a blast  furnace. 
Sailing  by  the  Philippine  Islands  they  were 
drifting  to  wreck  upon  the  coast,  when  with- 
in a stone’s  throw  of  the  rocks  the  wind  sud- 
denly changed  and  they  were  carried  by  in 
safety.  Their  food  throughout  the  entire  voy- 
age was  wretched  in  the  extreme,  and  from  it 
Hunter  Corbett  contracted  a serious  intestinal 
trouble  which  continued  for  a period  of  twenty 
years.  More  dead  than  alive,  the  little  com- 
pany alighted  from  the  ship  at  Shanghai, 
where  they  were  received  into  the  hospitable 
home  of  Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  M.  W.  Farnham. 


VI 

GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  DRAGON 


THE  foreigner  coming  into  China  for  the 
first  time  is  impressed  by  the  represen- 
tations of  the  dragon  so  frequently 
seen.  Under  the  old  regime  it  was  the  national 
emblem.  The  figure  was  stamped  upon  the 
coins  of  the  country;  it  was  woven  in  the 
flags,  and  worked  into  silken  banners  in  elabo- 
rate design.  It  was  portrayed  on  posters  in 
flaring  colors.  Postage  stamps  had  it  designed 
upon  their  faces.  It  has  been  burned  into  the 
tiles  and  built  into  the  temples,  palaces  and 
houses.  Representations  in  bronze  and  clay 
are  set  to  adorn  the  walls  of  the  cities.  It 
figures  prominently  in  their  works  of  art.  It 
is  painted  upon  the  kites  flown  by  men  and 
boys.  In  their  processions  it  is  often  the  chief 
attraction.  To  the  Chinese  it  is  significant  of 
power,  avenging  might,  and  a consuming  ter- 
ror to  their  enemies.  Apart  from  all  national 
significance,  however,  the  dragon  of  the  Book 
is  expressive  of  the  forces  of  ignorance,  super- 
stition and  sin  which  bind,  terrorize,  and  de- 
stroy men’s  souls.  Wherever  Satan  has  estab- 
56 


GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  DRAGON  57 


lished  the  seat  of  his  power  most  firmly,  there 
the  ravages  of  the  dragon  are  most  cruelly 
realized.  China,  like  other  nations,  has  long 
suffered  from  his  dominion.  The  new  order 
of  things  will  be  experienced  when  in  the  or- 
dained succession  of  events,  the  emblem  is 
changed  to  represent  the  coming  power  of 
China’s  manhood,  crowned  and  triumphant, 
and  standing  with  conquering  heel  upon  the 
head  of  the  dragon. 

When  Hunter  Corbett  first  set  foot  upon 
Chinese  soil,  the  dragon  of  the  pit  was  hold- 
ing well-nigh  indisputable  sway  in  northern 
China.  True,  it  was  fifty-eight  years  since 
Morrison  had  begun  his  labors  in  the  empire, 
but  the  wheels  of  the  Gospel  chariot  had 
dragged  in  the  sand,  and  the  warriors  had  died 
in  the  faith  of  better  things  to  come,  even  while 
the  realization  of  the  vision  tarried.  In  all  the 
Shantung  province  of  65,104  square  miles,  with 
its  estimated  population  of  29,000,000  inhabi- 
tants, there  were  in  1863  probably  not  twenty 
native  Christians.  The  people  in  the  port  cities 
hated  the  very  shadow  of  the  foreigner,  and 
not  without  reason,  for  the  outrages  visited 
upon  them  by  the  brutal  European  soldiery 
were  of  like  nature  with  those  recently  re- 
corded in  the  Great  War.  In  the  interior, 
the  natives  were  hostile  and  fearful.  Women 


58 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


and  children  fled  at  the  approach  of  the  mis- 
sionary, and  if  the  men  collected  to  hear  the 
preaching,  it  was  generally  out  of  motives  of 
curiosity  to  see  the  foreign  devil,  as  he  was 
called.  They  came  as  they  would  to  see  a 
circus  freak.  The  Taiping  rebels  were  even 
then  sacking  the  villages  of  the  province,  and 
leaving  frightful  trails  of  devastation  behind 
them.  Here  and  there,  wells  were  full  of 
women  and  children,  who  had  drowned  them- 
selves, and  trees  bore  the  hideous  fruit  of 
human  bodies  hung  by  their  own  hands  to 
escape  the  barbarous  treatment  of  their  cap- 
tors.  There  was  not  a single  mile  of  railroad 
in  the  empire,  and  journeys  into  the  interior 
could  be  made  only  by  foot,  boat,  wheelbar- 
row, horseback,  or  mule  litter,  with  the  likeli- 
hood of  attack  by  robbers.  Inn  doors  were 
slammed  in  the  faces  of  missionaries,  and  lodg- 
ment refused.  There  were  no  well-established 
stations  where  newly  arrived  workers  might 
be  welcomed  and  assigned  comfortable  lodg- 
ings. The  proposition  of  manning  the  field 
in  the  early  sixties  was  a vastly  different  one 
from  what  it  is  to-day. 

Wretchedly  ill  from  the  miserable  diet  of 
the  sailing  vessel,  Hunter  Corbett  consulted 
a physician  at  Shanghai,  who  with  two  others, 
ordered  him  to  leave  for  northern  China  at 


GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  DRAGON  59 

once  if  he  wished  to  save  his  life;  so  on  the 
third  of  January,  1864,  he  and  Mrs.  Corbett 
left  for  Chefoo.  On  board  were  five  other 
missionaries,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Calvin  Mateer, 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Williamson,  agents 
of  the  Scottish  Bible  Society,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
McClatchie,  of  the  Anglican  church.  The 
one  child  of  the  company  was  that  of  the  Wil- 
liamsons, later  destined  to  play  an  important 
role  in  their  gaining  admission  to  a Chinese 
home  in  their  hour  of  extreme  need. 

During  a stormy  night,  while  yet  thirty 
miles  from  their  destination,  the  officers  of 
the  ship,  mistaking  their  location,  permitted 
the  vessel  to  be  driven  upon  the  beach.  Here 
it  was  threatened  to  be  overturned  by  the 
violence,  of  the  waves  breaking  against  its 
sides  and  dashing  over  the  deck.  The  cap- 
tain regarded  the  situation  as  hopeless  and 
told  the  passengers  that  all  was  lost.  The 
missionaries  knelt  together  in  prayer,  asking 
for  deliverance  in  this  time  of  peril.  The  ves- 
sel held  its  own  against  wind  and  wave,  and 
shortly  before  midnight  the  passengers  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  the  shore.  The  steamer’s 
misfortune  occurred  at  a time  when  interces- 
sion was  being  offered  in  many  parts  of  the 
world  for  missionaries  and  their  work,  for  the 
wreck  took  place  during  the  Week  of  Prayer 


60 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


and  on  the  very  day  on  which  Foreign  Mis- 
sions was  being  made  the  subject  of  general 
and  special  prayer,  and  this  remarkable 
preservation  is  its  own  striking  commentary  on 
the  hearing  ear  of  the  Heavenly  Father  open 
to  the  cry  of  His  children. 

On  the  shore  the  company  spent  the  time 
till  nearly  daybreak,  wading  through  the  snow- 
drifts, and  wandering  up  and  down  the  beach 
and  over  the  hills  in  search  of  some  sheltering 
village.  At  length  they  heard  the  barking  of 
a dog  on  the  hillside.  A's  they  went  in  the 
direction  of  the  sound,  they  saw  a native  dis- 
appear behind  the  gates  of  his  house,  which  he 
locked,  and  no  amount  of  persuasion  by  word 
or  gesture  could  induce  him  to  open  to  them. 
Another  house  was  found.  The  knocking  at 
the  gate  brought  out  the  owner,  who,  with  a 
lighted  fagot  in  his  hand,  peered  from  face  to 
face  until  he  discovered  the  little  Williamson 
child  in  the  arms  of  its  father.  His  features 
relaxed  and  he  threw  open  the  gate  and  beck- 
oned the  company  to  follow  him.  He  entered 
the  house,  and  going  to  the  kang,  the  heated 
platform  which  serves  as  bed  in  a Chinese 
lodging,  he  routed  four  or  five  men  who  were 
sleeping  there,  and  with  a low  bow,  welcomed 
the  foreigners  to  the  hospitality  of  his  home. 
Morning  soon  came,  and  with  it  a breakfast 


GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  DRAGON  61 


of  millet.  Sweet  potatoes  were  served  in  the 
afternoon.  Meantime,  two  of  the  company  de- 
cided to  walk  to  Chefoo  and  secure  help.  After 
two  days,  a British  gunboat  came  to  the  scene 
of  the  wreck  and  took  the  passengers  to 
Chefoo.  There  the  missionaries  were  re- 
ceived into  the  home  of  Dr.  D.  B.  McCartee, 
the  representative  of  the  Presbyterian  Board 
at  this  station.  After  a short  stay  it  was  de- 
cided that  the  Mateers  and  Corbetts  should 
take  shendzas,  or  mule  litters,  and  go  on  to 
Tengchow,  fifty  miles  distant.  Here  they  were 
welcomed  by  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  R.  Mills. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  J.  B.  Hartwell,  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Mission,  were  also  most  cordial  in  their 
reception. 

The  history  of  Presbyterian  Missions  at 
Tengchow  had  been  peculiarly  tragic.  A suc- 
cession of  sorrows  had  overtaken  the  station, 
which  had  left  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mills  the  only 
occupants  upon  the  field.  In  May,  1861,  the 
Revs.  G.  R.  Gayley  and  J.  A.  Danforth  had 
arrived  with  their  wives.  The  following 
month  Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  L.  Nevius  joined 
them.  Mrs.  Danforth  died  before  the  close  of 
the  year,  and  the  serious  illness  of  Mr.  Dan- 
forth necessitated  his  leaving  for  A'merica. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mills  came  from  Shanghai  to 
fill  the  vacancy.  Just  as  they  were  leaving  the 


62 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


city  one  of  their  little  boys  died  of  cholera. 
Mr.  Gayley  came  to  Chefoo  to  meet  their 
vessel  upon  its  arrival.  The  party  left  at  once 
for  Tengchow,  as  cholera  was  then  raging  in 
Chefoo.  Four  miles  to  the  west  of  the  latter 
place  the  remaining  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Mills  sickened  and  died  of  the  dread  disease. 
Before  the  company  reached  Tengchow,  Mr. 
Gayley  had  been  smitten,  and  died  soon  after 
reaching  home.  A few  days  later,  one  of  the 
Gayley  children  also  died,  and  Mrs.  Gayley, 
with  her  one  remaining  child,  soon  left  for 
America.  Two  years  later,  the  illness  of  Mrs. 
Nevius  compelled  her  and  Mr.  Nevius  to  re- 
turn to  the  United  States,  and  thus  the  Mills 
were  left  alone  to  occupy  the  station.  The 
Chinese  had  kindly  received  the  Americans 
upon  their  arrival,  but  after  the  first  few  con- 
verts had  been  secured  this  cordiality  turned 
into  bitter  hostility.  They  would  neither  sell 
nor  rent  buildings,  and  by  every  means  at  their 
command,  strove  to  thwart  the  purposes  of  the 
foreigners. 

This  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  the 
new  missionaries  reached  the  city  in  January, 
1864.  The  three  families  were  compelled  to 
live  in  cramped  quarters  in  an  old  temple 
where  the  missionaries  had  succeeded  in  se- 
curing a foothold.  A large  idol  had  been 


GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  DRAGON  63 


carried  out  in  the  dead  of  night  and  buried 
in  the  courtyard  to  give  additional  room ; other 
idols  were  stowed  away  in  unused  recesses,  but 
still  their  habitation  was  distressingly  crowded. 
Altogether,  the  prospect  was  dreary,  but  the 
newcomers  happily  made  the  best  of  it.  They 
spent  long  hours  in  study,  attempting  to  learn 
the  language.  They  manufactured  furniture, 
took  long  walks,  read,  prayed,  worked,  and 
built  in  the  hope  of  a brighter  future. 

After  eight  months,  word  was  received  at 
the  station  that  a house  could  be  rented  two 
miles  out  from  Chefoo.  To  relieve  the 
crowded  situation  in  the  temple,  Hunter  Cor- 
bett and  his  wife  decided  to  pass  on  to  these 
new  quarters.  When  they  brought  their  few 
belongings  to  the  place,  they  found  it  a great 
rambling  block  of  buildings  which  had  for- 
merly been  occupied  by  a Chinese  family  of 
some  means,  but  owing  to  a shocking  tragedy 
that  had  happened  there,  it  had  been  deserted 
and  was  now  known  as  the  Haunted  House. 
Here  in  these  isolated  surroundings,  they  es- 
tablished themselves,  and  during  the  winter 
months  passed  from  room  to  room  through 
snowy  courtyards,  and  endured  the  lack  of 
conveniences  with  uncomplaining  fortitude. 
After  fourteen  months  in  these  quarters  came 
the  opportunity  to  reside  in  Chefoo,  as  Dr.  Me- 


64 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Cartee  was  leaving  the  village,  feeling  the 
hopelessness  of  accomplishing  anything  perma- 
nent in  the  place. 

Missionary  enterprise  had  been  begun  here 
in  1859,  when  Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  L.  Holmes, 
representing  the  American  Southern  Baptist 
church,  arrived  at  Chefoo  in  a little  sailing 
vessel,  and  began  their  work.  Conditions  were 
such  that  they  made  the  vessel  in  the  harbor 
their  headquarters,  going  upon  shore  by  day 
and  teaching,  and  returning  to  the  boat  by 
night  for  safety.  The  English  Baptists  came 
here  in  i860,  but  did  not  confine  their  efforts 
to  this  station,  as  they  pushed  on  to  another 
place  in  the  interior. 

When  Dr.  McCartee  decided  to  retire  from 
Chefoo  and  go  to  Ningpo,  this  enabled  Hunter 
Corbett  to  secure  the  house  which  had  been 
occupied  by  the  physician's  family.  It  was  a 
miserable  little  structure,  good  enough  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Chinese,  but  a dwelling  sadly  at 
variance  with  an  American’s  idea  of  decency 
and  comfort.  It  stood  upon  swampy  ground, 
beside  a foul-smelling  stream.  Across  the 
muddy  bridle  path,  which  served  as  street,  was 
an  inn  where  donkeys  and  mules  kept  up  an 
incessant  braying  day  and  night.  It  was  the 
only  house  in  the  village  which  could  be  se- 
cured, and  the  wonder  is  that  Dr.  McCartee 


GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  DRAGON  65 


was  able  to  remain  in  it  as  long  as  he 
did. 

It  was  to  this  place  Hunter  Corbett  brought 
his  young  wife  in  1865,  and  began  to  look 
about  him  for  a building  in  which  to  gather  the 
Chinese  for  instruction.  He  noticed  some 
ground  adjoining  a temple  in  the  heart  of  the 
village  upon  which  the  people  who  came  from 
the  interior  were  accustomed  to  pitch  their 
tents.  It  was  their  custom  to  allow  the  person 
first  getting  his  tent  upon  the  ground  after  the 
Chinese  New  Year  to  have  right  of  way  there 
until  the  return  of  the  holiday  season.  This 
time  among  the  Chinese  is  always  the  signal 
for  breaking  up  business  and  the  usual  order 
of  affairs,  while  the  people  gather  at  their 
native  villages.  It  is  the  national  homegoing 
occasion  of  all  who  can  afford  it.  This  was 
the  reason  why  the  ground  near  the  temple  was 
to  be  vacated  at  this  season.  Hunter  Corbett, 
anticipating  the  opportunity,  concluded  to  avail 
himself  of  a “squatter’s  rights,”  and  went  di- 
rectly to  consult  the  American  Consul,  who, 
if  not  fully  approving  the  plan,  did  not  oppose 
it,  saying,  “You  may  at  least  try  it,  for  I find 
nothing  in  our  treaty  arrangements  to  prevent. 
Only  you  must  keep  the  peace.”  The  mission- 
ary’s next  step  was  to  have  some  logs  sawed 
into  boards  in  the  courtyard  of  his  house,  and 


66 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


fitted  together  so  as  to  make  a portable  build- 
ing about  ten  feet  square.  These  sections  he 
piled  to  one  side  and  patiently  waited  his 
chance. 

It  came;  one  afternoon  just  before  the  New 
Year,  he  observed  that  the  men  occupying  the 
ground  he  wanted,  were  taking  down  their  tent 
preparatory  to  returning  to  their  native  village 
in  the  interior.  That  evening  they  left,  and 
at  two  o’clock  in  the  morning  Hunter  Corbett 
and  a line  of  coolies  bearing  heavy  loads  of 
boards  stood  before  the  entrance  of  the  temple 
grounds.  The  policemen  had  all  accommodat- 
ingly disappeared.  The  gatekeeper  was  in- 
duced to  open  the  heavy  doors  and  allow  the 
strange  procession  to  enter.  Once  inside  the 
grounds  the  missionary  speedily  evolved  into  a 
master  workman,  and  next  morning  when  the 
people  thronged  upon  the  streets,  they  saw 
the  little  board  house,  which  had  been  erected 
during  the  last  few  hours,  now  fronting  the 
main  thoroughfare.  Moreover  it  was  open  and 
ready  for  business,  its  tables  and  shelves  full 
of  books  and  tracts.  The  Chinese  looked  upon 
the  structure  with  wondering  eyes  as  though 
it  had  fallen  from  heaven.  They  crowded  in 
front  of  it,  received  a hearty  greeting  of  wel- 
come from  the  proprietor,  and  bought  his 
books  and  tracts.  Some  one  stayed  in  the 


GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  DRAGON]  67 

building  continually  till  the  people  grew  ac- 
customed to  the  structure  and  accepted  it  as  an 
established  part  of  their  town. 

Meantime,  the  temple  priest  had  been  ad- 
justing his  thinking  cap  to  harmonize  with 
changed  conditions.  He  saw  the  location 
chosen  for  the  new  shop  was  a good  one  for 
commercial  purposes  and  thought  if  he  could 
get  the  foreigner  off,  he  could  use  it  himself 
for  similar  purposes.  He  gave  orders  that  the 
building  should  be  vacated,  but  the  foreigner 
stood  upon  his  rights.  The  priest  continued  to 
insist,  but  the  foreigner  politely  but  firmly  re- 
fused to  budge,  except  as  the  man  of  the  temple 
would  use  his  influence  to  secure  an  equally 
good  location  elsewhere  for  which  Hunter 
Corbett  was  willing  to  pay  the  customary  rent. 
The  priest  at  first  refused  to  help,  but  seeing 
business  still  continued  prosperous  at  the  de- 
pository, he  interested  himself  to  find  new 
quarters  for  the  foreigner.  He  came  back 
from  his  search  to  report  nothing  found. 

“All  right,”  said  Hunter  Corbett,  “I’ll  stay 
right  here,  then,  unless  you  yourself  will  put 
up  a good  building  in  the  place  of  this  one  and 
give  me  a written  contract  that  you  will  rent 
to  me  at  the  usual  rate.” 

Again  the  priest  refused  and  went  away. 
Time  after  time  he  returned  and  sought  to 


68 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


persuade  the  foreigner  to<  vacate,  but  at  last, 
tiring  of  the  squatter’s  persistency,  which  he 
failed  to  recognize  as  the  perseverance  of  the 
saints,  he  yielded  and  erected  the  building  upon 
the  stipulated  terms. 


i 


VII 


THE  LIGHT  ON  THE  HILL 

IN  approaching  Chefoo  by  vessel,  one  sees 
ahead  a broken  stretch  of  mountainous 
land  with  an  irregular  coastline  to  the 
left,  upon  which  are  houses  of  a strangely 
mixed  character.  Certain  of  these  are  com- 
manding in  appearance,  others  small  and 
dingy,  as  though  abashed  in  the  presence  of 
their  more  pretentious  neighbors.  The  shore 
curves  to  the  base  of  a hilly  promontory,  whose 
slopes  are  covered  with  large,  roomy  residences 
which  give  dignity  and  beauty  to  this  thriving 
port  city  of  Northern  China.  Crowning  the 
hill  is  a white  building  which  gives  the  sug- 
gestion of  a princely  Caucasian  in  the  midst 
of  a throng  of  swarthy  retainers.  This  is  the 
Chefoo  light  house,  and  every  evening  as  dark- 
ness settles  upon  the  city  on  this  high  point 
a strong  light  shines  from  the  tower,  restlessly 
disappearing  and  re-appearing  on  the  city  side, 
and  sending  shafts  of  light  across  the  waters 
to  warn  the  sailors  coming  in  from  the  sea. 
As  seen  from  an  anchored  vessel  in  the  harbor, 
it  is  like  the  eye  of  some  great  unsleeping 
69 


70 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


monster  crouched  upon  the  mountain.  Tour- 
ists never  fail  to  admire  the  house-crowned 
promontory,  and  to  watch  the  striking  flashes 
of  light  streaming  from  this  high  station,  for 
the  beacon  adds  to  the  remarkable  beauty  of 
this  northern  port. 

Another  light  of  different  nature,  shining 
from  a second  hill  further  removed  from  the 
shore  is  far  less  prominent.  Here  on  an  ir- 
regular strip  of  land  stretching  across  the 
shoulder  of  the  hill  and  thus  extending  almost 
continuously  for  more  than  a quarter  of  a 
mile  into  the  broken  plain  beyond  are  the 
buildings  and  grounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sion. On  the  higher  ground  above  is  a Tauist 
temple,  surrounded  by  a grove  of  stunted 
evergreens.  On  the  lower  level  are  the  wide 
stretches  of  native  houses.  Between  the 
heathen  temple  above  and  the  village  below  is 
the  little  Christian  community  set  for  the  re- 
flection of  that  Light  which  is  the  Light  of  the 
world. 

When  Hunter  Corbett  first  came  to  Chefoo 
and  established  his  home  in  the  dingy  little 
house  in  the  marshy  land  of  the  village  at  the 
foot  of  Temple  Hill,  he  and  his  wife  looked 
over  their  surroundings  and  their  eyes  rested 
upon  the  commanding  elevation  to  the  south- 
west. They  saw  its  possibilities,  and  prayed 


THE  LIGHT  ON  THE  HILL  71 

earnestly  that  they  might  be  enabled  to  secure 
this  land  for  their  home.  That  it  had  long 
been  sought  by  other  foreigners,  who  had 
failed  to  effect  a purchase,  was  no  barrier  to 
their  faith.  It  would  seem  that  God  speedily 
heard  their  prayer,  for  before  the  end  of  two 
months,  it  was  in  their  possession.  The  orig- 
inal lot  was  almost  perfectly  square.  It  over- 
looked Chefoo  and  the  port  and  is  beautiful  for 
situation.  At  the  time  of  purchase,  six  villages 
lay  around  the  hill,  no  one  further  than  half  a 
mile  distant. 

The  plan  to  buy  and  build,  independent  of 
the  New  York  Board,  was  not  of  Hunter  Cor- 
bett’s choosing,  but  one  of  those  exigencies  of 
necessity  which  confronted  the  missionaries 
in  the  beginning  of  their  work  at  Chefoo.  The 
missionary  felt  that  he  could  not  continue  in 
the  restricted  quarters  among  the  natives  in  the 
village  without  endangering  the  health  of  his 
family,  and  knowing  the  straits  to  which  the 
Foreign  Board  was  reduced  by  the  decreased 
gifts  of  the  churches  following  the  Civil  War, 
he  concluded  that  if  the  needed  grounds  and 
buildings  were  to  be  secured,  it  would  be 
through  his  own  efforts,  aided  by  those  of  his 
relatives  in  the  homeland.  He  made  his  ar- 
rangements accordingly,  and  after  the  pur- 
chase, proceeded  to  build.  This  was  a difficult 


72 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


feat  in  those  early  days.  The  Chinese  have 
unwritten  laws  of  procedure  by  which  they 
advance  in  such  work  at  the  rate  of  the  pro- 
verbial snail’s  gallop.  Their  ideas  of  archi- 
tecture were  at  wide  variance  with  a west- 
erner’s, and  this  meant  that  every  part  of  their 
labor  had  to  be  done  under  the  eye  of  the  mis- 
sionary. Glass  windows,  grooved  flooring, 
and  paneled  doors  were  things  practically  un- 
known among  the  native  workmen.  In  build- 
ing, it  had  previously  been  their  custom  to  labor 
seven  days  of  the  week,  with  intervals  of  rest 
for  smoking  and  talking  during  working 
hours.  To  bring  a Christian  order  into  these 
chaotic  conditions  was  a part  of  the  building 
program.  The  ground  for  the  new  home  was 
broken  in  the  little  wheatfield  on  the  brow  of 
the  hill  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  May,  1866.  In 
the  contract  for  building  it  was  stipulated  that 
the  workmen  were  to  be  given  fixed  periods  for 
resting  and  smoking,  and  that  these  intervals 
might  be  filled  in  with  preaching  by  Hunter 
Corbett  or  Elder  Wang  as  they  could  find  time 
to  conduct  the  services.  It  was  further  ar- 
ranged that  no  labor  was  to  be  done  by  the 
workmen  on  this  building  or  elsewhere  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  that  they  should  be  given  food 
equivalent  to  that  received  on  work  days,  pro- 
vided they  came  to  the  place  and  attended  serv- 


THE  LIGHT  ON  THE  HILL  73 

ices  conducted  at  different  times  during  the 
day. 

The  brick  walls  went  up  so  rapidly  and  the 
roof  tiles  and  flooring  were  put  in  place  so 
expeditiously  that  on  the  Fourth  of  July  op- 
erations were  sufficiently  advanced  to  permit 
of  a patriotic  demonstration  in  the  new  home. 
A flag  was  borrowed  from  an  American  sailing 
vessel  then  in  port,  and  raised  upon  a pole  over 
the  new  house.  In  the  evening  a little  company 
gathered  here,  and  after  tea,  the  United  States 
Consul,  the  captain  of  the  ship,  and  the  other 
gentlemen  who  were  present,  made  speeches 
suited  to  the  occasion.  Fireworks  gave  a fin- 
ishing touch  to  the  happy  time,  and  the  Chinese 
learned  that  there  were  occasions  for  rejoic- 
ing as  dear  to  American  hearts  as  the  New 
Year  time  to  themselves.  A week  later  the 
family  moved  in,  and  the  house  has  been  oc- 
cupied by  the  Corbetts  ever  since.  This  Chefoo 
home  probably  bears  the  distinction  of  being 
the  building  serving  as  the  continuous  residence 
of  a Presbyterian  missionary  longer  than  any 
other  now  extant  in  China. 

From  time  to  time  additional  ground  was 
purchased  for  new  buildings,  and  as  these  were 
erected  the  hillside  came  to  have  the  appear- 
ance of  a little  village.  In  September,  school 
houses  for  the  boys  and  girls  were  bargained 


74 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


for,  and  these  were  completed  before  Christ- 
mas. In  February  of  the  following  year 
word  was  received  from  the  Board  that  $500 
had  been  granted  with  which  to  build  a church. 
The  letter  telling  of  the  grant  reached  Hunter 
Corbett  while  he  was  in  Shanghai  on  his  re- 
turn from  Korea,  where  he  had  served  as  in- 
terpreter on  the  American  man-of-war, 
Wachusett,  sent  by  the  United  States  to  inquire 
into  the  conditions  attending  the  destruction  of 
the  ill-fated  General  Sherman,  a vessel  which 
had  been  wrecked  in  the  Ping  Yang  river  in 
the  early  autumn  and  all  on  board  murdered. 
At  the  earliest  opportunity,  he  hurried  back 
to  Chefoo,  and  contracted  for  the  building 
of  the  chapel.  The  structure  was  forty-five 
feet  in  length,  twenty  in  width,  and  fifteen 
in  height.  The  contract  price,  exclusive  of 
windows  and  seats  was  660,000  cash,  about 
$660. 

On  July  7th,  1867,  “this  little  church  on  the 
hill  above  Yentai,”  (the  native  Chinese  name 
for  Chefoo)  was  dedicated.  At  this  service 
two  Chinese  were  baptized  and  received  into 
the  church  membership.  One  of  these  had 
heard  the  truth  from  a blind  man  at  his  native 
village  more  than  130  miles  in  the  interior. 
He  had  been  an  opium  smoker,  but  by  the 
grace  of  God  had  broken  the  habit,  and  came 


THE  LIGHT  ON  THE  HILL  75 


confessing  his  faith  in  Christ.  The  church  was 
built  to  accommodate  two  hundred  hearers, 
and  with  characteristic  faith,  Hunter  Corbett 
added  a tower  to  receive  the  bell,  which  he  be- 
lieved would  some  day  be  provided  and  hung 
there.  Moreover,  he  erected  a cross  upon  the 
building,  mute  emblem  of  the  sign  by  which  he 
was  to  conquer.  Presbytery  was  held  here  in 
October,  at  which  time  the  little  church  of 
eighteen  members  presented  a call  to  Hunter 
Corbett,  and  that  “he  might  be  free  from  all 
worldly  care  and  anxiety,”  the  salary  of  12,000 
cash,  equivalent  to  5 or  6 gold  dollars,  was 
promised  each  year  in  quarterly  payments.  It 
was  a fruitful  mustard  seed,  and  in  the  day 
of  small  things  was  not  despised.  The  call  was 
accepted.  Rev.  Calvin  Mateer  delivered  the 
charge  to  the  pastor,  and  Rev.  Chas.  R.  Mills 
addressed  the  Chinese  upon  the  importance  of 
performing  well  their  parts  as  Aarons  and 
Hurs  in  the  support  of  their  leader.  It  was 
not  until  fifteen  years  later  that  the  expected 
bell  arrived,  and  was  placed  in  the  tower  pre- 
pared for  it.  On  the  fourteenth  of  June,  1882, 
however,  faith  and  patience  had  their  reward. 
On  that  date  a large  congregation  assembled 
to  dedicate  a bell  which  came  from  friends 
across  the  sea,  bearing  the  inscription,  “Cast 
by  A.  Fulton’s  Sons  & Co.,  Pittsburgh, 


76 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Pa.,  1882.  Presented  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Chef 00,  China,  by  the  Sabbath- 
School  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Street  Presby- 
terian Church,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  U.  S.  A., 
1882.” 

Following  the  furlough  of  1885-1886,  the 
First  Presbyterian  church  of  Wichita,  Kansas, 
gave  an  offering  of  $2500,  which  was  used  for 
the  erection  of  the  High  School  buildings  on 
Temple  Hill.  After  Dr.  Thos.  Marshall  had 
visited  the  station  in  1888,  he  was  so  impressed 
by  the  results  of  the  work  witnessed  there  that 
he  gave  funds  with  which  to  build  a hall  to  be 
used  by  students  taking  a prescribed  course  of 
instruction  in  the  Bible,  and  this  was  named 
Marshall  Hall.  Meanwhile,  residences  had 
been  built  for  Mr.  Eckhart’s  family,  and  Miss 
Downing,  and  the  “Nan  Lo”  (South  Man- 
sion) for  Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  L.  Nevius,  and 
thus  the  Mission  plant  flourished  upon  the  hill- 
top, and  the  church  of  the  white  tower  became 
established  as  one  of  the  landmarks  of  the 
growing  port  city. 

The  home  in  its  shadow  became  synonymous 
with  blessing  to  a continually  increasing  circle 
of  friends.  Missionaries  weakened  by  their 
labors  in  the  heated  cities  of  the  south,  or 
broken  by  the  discouragements  of  other  diffi- 
cult fields,  came  here  to  find  rest,  and  gather 


THE  LIGHT  ON  THE  HILL  77 


strength  and  courage  for  renewed  conflict. 
Travelers  took  the  road  leading  toward  the 
Tauist  temple,  and  many  found  their  way  into 
the  shade  of  the  veranda  of  the  house  upon  the 
hill,  and  carried  away  a saner  conception  of 
missionary  work  when  they  left.  Distressed 
sailors  found  the  path  which  led  from  the  shore 
to  the  hilltop,  and  followed  it  to  find  sincere 
welcome  and  helpful  counsel.  Mourners  came 
to  the  Foreign  cemetery  upon  the  slope  just 
across  the  highway  from  the  church  and  often 
tarried  in  the  missionary’s  home  to  receive  the 
uplift  of  a heavenly  consolation.  Chinese  in- 
quirers found  their  way  to  the  study  and 
learned  there  the  story  of  redeeming  love. 
Children  played  in  the  compound  and  turned 
to  the  gray  house  of  brick,  which  was  to  them 
the  palace  of  love. 

Each  Sabbath  a white  flag  floated  above  the 
church  to  mark  the  day  of  rest  and  worship. 
The  signal  brought  its  little  stream  of  wor- 
shipers up  the  slopes  and  the  song  of  praise 
in  a strange  tongue  floated  out  into  the  sunlit 
open  and  was  heard  in  the  streets  below  by 
them  who  knew  no  day  of  rest.  From  this 
center,  too,  the  message  of  life  was  carried  into 
the  distant  interior.  Far  more  wonderful  than 
the  transmission  of  the  news  of  Troy’s  down- 
fall by  the  blazing  beacons  on  the  mountain 


78  HUNTER  CORBETT 

tops  of  A'sia  Minor  and  the  islands  of  the 
yEgean  sea  to  the  homes  of  the  Greeks,  was 
the  passing  on  of  the  Light  of  Life  from 
Temple  Hill  at  Chefoo  to  Weihsien  and 
Ichowfu  and  the  regions  beyond. 


VIII 

WARP  AND  WOOF 


THE  testing  time  of  missionary  spirit,  ac- 
cording to  witnesses  on  the  field,  is  not 
so  much  when  volunteering  for  the 
service  in  foreign  lands,  as  in  the  stress  and 
strain  of  the  period  while  becoming  accus- 
tomed to  new  conditions  and  surroundings. 
Among  a people  of  strange  language  and  cus- 
tom, far  removed  from  every  familiar  scene 
and  association,  recognizing  the  immensity  of 
the  work  to  be  performed,  and  realizing  the 
meagerness  of  equipment  with  which  to  cope 
with  the  powers  of  darkness,  it  is  not  strange 
that  feelings  of  loneliness  and  depression  fre- 
quently overtake  the  missionary.  It  is  the  feel- 
ing akin  to  that  soldiers  experience  when  com- 
pelled to  lie  inactive  under  the  shelling  of  the 
enemy.  To  retain  optimism  and  faith,  and  to 
sing  the  Lord’s  song  in  a strange  land,  requires 
the  soul  of  a hero,  and  a continual  refreshing 
at  the  Hidden  Fountain,  but  they  who  learn 
in  this  school,  learn  also  the  secrets  of  triumph 
and  happiness. 

It  may  have  been  that  this  schooling  was 
79 


80 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


necessary  to  the  further  development  of  char- 
acter in  Hunter  Corbett  and  his  wife  during 
those  first  ten  years  of  mission  life  in  China. 
It  was  no  Commencement  week  program,  with 
flowers  and  music  by  which  the  work  was 
built  up  at  Chefoo.  All  the  lessons  that  had 
been  learned  by  the  young  man  at  the  Leather- 
wood  farm,  in  his  father’s  mill  and  carpenter’s 
shop,  and  in  the  schools  where  he  had  studied 
with  fidelity,  together  with  the  training  ac- 
quired by  his  wife  in  her  school  days  and  in  her 
experience  among  the  Choctaw  Indians,  now 
fitted  into  their  intended  niches  in  securing  re- 
sults upon  the  Chinese  field.  Their  clothing 
wore  out.  It  required  a year  in  which  to  send 
an  order  to  America  and  receive  the  goods  in 
return.  It  developed  foresight  to  provide  and 
maintain  a wardrobe  and  required  ingenuity 
to  meet  its  contingencies.  The  making  of 
Hunter  Corbett’s  first  suit  in  China  is  an  in- 
teresting study  in  the  evolution  of  the  tailor’s 
art.  A’n  old  pair  of  trousers  was  carefully 
ripped  apart,  and  from  the  pieces  a pattern 
was  secured,  by  which  a new  garment  was 
fashioned  and  worn  with  satisfaction.  The 
coat  was  more  refractory,  but  despite  all 
tendency  to  sag  and  bag,  it  was  finally  made 
to  serve  with  becoming  propriety.  To  send  a 
letter  of  half  an  ounce  to  friends  in  America 


WARP  AND  WOOF 


81 


cost  forty-five  cents  for  postage,  so  that  cor- 
respondence had  to  be  limited.  It  was  neces- 
sary to  provide  furniture  for  their  quarters. 
Much  of  that  used  by  the  Chinese  and  sold  in 
their  shops  was  of  such  odd  design  and  pur- 
pose that  it  was  wholly  unsuited  to  the  Amer- 
ican’s needs.  Rev.  Calvin  Mateer  was  of  a 
mechanical  turn  of  mind,  and  while  the  mis- 
sionary company  was  still  in  the  old  temple  at 
Tengchow,  he  fashioned  a turning  lathe,  and 
some  of  the  furniture  still  used  in  the  Chefoo 
home  was  manufactured  by  Hunter  Corbett 
on  this  lathe,  and  most  of  their  household  con- 
veniences, during  the  initial  period  of  their 
missionary  service  were  the  handiwork  of  his 
hammer  and  saw.  In  the  erection  of  every 
one  of  his  buildings  on  Temple  Hill,  Hunter 
Corbett  was  his  own  architect,  and  he  served 
as  the  foreman  of  masons,  carpenters,  glaziers, 
and  plumbers. 

The  acquiring  of  the  Chinese  language  in 
the  sixties  was  a more  formidable  task  than  to- 
day. Suitable  text-books  with  capable  teach- 
ers at  the  elbow  were  not  in  the  order  of  in- 
struction at  that  time.  The  process  was  rather 
that  of  two  individuals  of  diverse  nationality, 
language,  and  manner  of  thought,  getting  to- 
gether, and  by  means  of  signs,  jabberings,  and 
imitated  repetitions,  reaching  uncertain  con- 


82 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


elusions.  There  were  long  forenoons  of  study 
by  this  process,  from  which  Hunter  Corbett 
and  his  wife  came  out  with  weary  bodies  and 
aching  heads.  As  a result  of  these  first  at- 
tempts, their  teacher  confided  to  a foreigner, 
“It  is  possible  that  I may  be  able  to  teach  Mrs. 
Corbett  the  language,  but  I doubt  if  Mr.  Cor- 
bett will  ever  get  it.”  Yet  despite  his  bodily 
weakness,  owing  to  the  chronic  ailment  which 
had  fastened  itself  upon  him  during  his  ocean 
voyage,  he  persisted  in  his  studies,  and  at  the 
end  of  fifteen  months  he  was  able  to  go  upon 
his  first  itinerating  journey,  and  tell  the  Gospel 
story  with  such  success  as  to  win  for  Christ 
one  of  the  staunchest  disciples  of  his  entire 
ministry.  But  far  from  resting  content  with 
his  first  acquisition  of  the  language,  Hunter 
Corbett  kept  his  teacher  by  him  for  six  years, 
perfecting  idiom,  pronunciation,  phraseology, 
and  all  that  might  enter  into  his  future 
reading,  speaking,  and  translating.  He  read 
tedious  Chinese  novels  to  gain  a command 
of  choice  classic  expression.  He  translated 
a church  history  for  his  growing  class  of 
native  preachers,  and  so  acquired  an  ex- 
tended knowledge  of  the  mandarin  Chi- 
nese. 

Coupled  with  the  study  of  native  language, 
his  journals  show  a wide  range  of  general  read- 


WARP  AND  WOOF 


83 


ing  during  the  first  ten  years  of  his  missionary 
experience.  Among  the  volumes  read  by  him 
were  Carlyle’s  “Life  of  Frederick  the  Great,” 
Gibbon’s  “Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire,” certain  of  Max  Muller's  works,  and 
others  of  a lighter  vein.  He  studied  the  Ana- 
lects of  Confucius  with  great  fidelity  during 
these  earlier  years  of  his  residence  in  China, 
in  order  that  he  might  have  a definite  point 
of  contact  with  intelligent  Chinese  listeners 
whom  he  might  address.  However,  the  main 
trend  of  his  reading  and  study  was  more  di- 
rectly in  those  volumes  bearing  upon  the  work 
of  the  Gospel  ministry,  and  the  efforts  of  his 
mind  were  to  make  the  methods  applicable  to 
the  conditions  in  his  own  immediate  field  of 
labor.  A1  number  of  his  printed  addresses 
show  the  importance  which  he  attached  to  this 
form  of  preparation,  and  he  was  his  own  wit- 
ness as  to  its  efficacy.  The  evidences  of  Bible 
study,  however,  outweigh  those  of  all  other 
books.  “The  book  of  the  law  departed  not  out 
of  his  hands  day  nor  night.”  His  Bibles  were 
literally  worn  out  by  constant  usage,  and  this 
fact  has  been  frequently  commented  upon  by 
Chinese  pastors  and  evangelists  in  urging  the 
reading  of  the  Word  upon  their  auditors.  On 
the  flyleaf  of  his  journal,  and  repeated  else- 
where among  his  papers  at  this  period,  we  find 


84 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


recorded  Luther’s  aphorism,  “Bene  orasse  est 
bene  studuisse.” 

Although  some  of  the  labor  entering  into 
the  warp  and  woof  of  the  everyday  activities 
at  the  Chefoo  station  was  necessarily  of  an  ex- 
perimental character,  it  was  never  blind,  hap- 
hazard skirmishing  and  fitful  effort  concern- 
ing itself  for  a time  with  some  real  or  fancied 
need,  then  dropping  the  incompleted  task  be- 
fore results  could  be  either  expected  or  secured. 
It  is  surprising  how  little  labor  has  been  ex- 
pended in  such  channels.  The  enterprises  in- 
augurated by  Hunter  Corbett,  which  are  to-day 
bearing  excellent  results,  are  the  same  which 
were  begun  before  1870  and  pursued  with 
patient  perseverance,  in  the  belief  that  they 
were  approved  by  God.  They  have  been  ex- 
tended and  re-inforced,  but  they  exhibit  the 
same  commendable  features  which  were  recog- 
nized in  their  inception.  The  preaching  of  the 
Word  has  been  ever  kept  in  its  legitimate  place 
in  the  center  of  all  the  work.  Daily  services 
were  held  in  the  little  street  chapel  in  the  heart 
of  the  village.  Curious  throngs  crowded  into 
the  building  to  hear  what  the  foreigners  had 
to  say.  Among  the  hearers  were  sailors  from 
the  junks  lying  rows  deep  along  the  jetty; 
countrymen  from  their  farms  on  the  surround- 
ing hills  and  mountains,  and  villagers  from  far 


WARP  AND  WOOF 


85 


back  in  the  interior.  All  these  carried  the  news 
of  the  “Doctrine”  to  their  friends  and  neigh- 
bors. Instruction  of  a more  detailed  nature 
was  undertaken  in  behalf  of  the  inquiry  and 
convert  classes  in  the  study  and  at  the  home 
of  Rev.  J.  L.  Nevius,  who  came  to  the  Chefoo 
station  six  years  after  Hunter  Corbett  reached 
China. 

In  the  spring  and  autumn  of  each  year  ex- 
tensive itinerating  trips,  generally  covering 
from  1000  to  1200  miles,  were  taken  among 
the  towns  and  villages  of  the  province.  To 
supplement  this  work,  a native  ministry  was 
trained,  converts  of  promise  from  all  parts  of 
the  province  being  gathered  into  Chefoo  each 
winter  and  instructed,  the  more  likely  among 
them  being  encouraged  to  continue  and  per- 
fect their  studies,  and  to  give  exercise  to  their 
gifts  in  preaching  in  the  street  chapel  and  in 
their  home  villages.  As  schools,  colleges,  and 
seminaries  were  developed  under  the  mission 
work  in  China  at  a later  day,  the  students, 
whose  abilities  and  inclinations  made  it  possible 
for  them  to  do  so,  were  urged  to  complete 
courses  in  these  institutions  and  in  this  way  a 
large  number  of  able  native  preachers  and 
helpers  have  been  added  to  the  missionary 
force. 

The  amount  of  personal  work  which  Hunter 


86 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Corbett  did  during  this  period  cannot  be  esti- 
mated. He  was  always  ready  to  speak  a good 
word  for  Jesus  Christ  to  the  people  in  the  mar- 
ket and  by  the  roadsides.  He  approached  men 
in  the  fields,  or  while  they  flew  their  kites  on 
Temple  Hill,  and  told  them  the  Gospel.  He 
frequently  spoke  to  little  companies  who  had 
brought  their  bird  cages  to  a favorite  meeting 
place  outside  the  compound  wall.  When  he 
walked  to  the  harbor  beach,  it  was  to  search 
out  knots  of  men  to  whom  he  could  tell  this 
same  message.  Oftentimes  he  found  mule- 
teers and  laborers  passing  in  groups  upon  the 
roads.  They  would  not  have  time  to  stop  long 
enough  to  hear  his  story,  so  he  would  walk 
with  them  a mile  or  more  into  the  country, 
and  return  with  another  company  coming  to 
the  village,  always  telling  the  same  story  of 
redeeming  love. 

The  work  by  which  present  results  have  been 
secured  was  carried  on  from  dawn  until  ten 
and  eleven  o’clock  at  night.  Only  as  Hunter 
Corbett  had  inherited  from  clean-lived  an- 
cestors an  iron  constitution  was  he  enabled  to 
endure  the  fatigues  of  those  first  years  of  his 
ministry  in  China.  Especially  was  this  true 
in  view  of  the  weakening  effects  of  the  internal 
malady  from  which  he  suffered.  On  his  itiner- 
aries he  would  lie  down  upon  his  hard  bed 


WARP  AND  WOOF 


87 


with  the  needed  medicine  within  reach  of  his 
hand,  and  this  course  he  followed  through  long 
years  of  suffering  and  weakness.  In  the  loom 
of  pain,  prayer  and  work,  the  warp  of  every- 
day mission  life  was  fastened  and  the  design 
took  form  and  color,  as  it  was  built  up  by  the 
woof  of  consecrated  toil.  The  shuttle  of  con- 
stant duty  was  continually  plying,  and  the  ends 
of  the  threads  were  fixed  in  the  hearts  of  the 
devoted  missionary  and  his  wife,  in  the  home 
where  love  abode,  in  the  study  at  the  rear  of 
the  house,  in  the  little  church  hard  by,  in  the 
schools  for  the  boys  and  girls  in  its  shadow, 
in  the  street  chapel  down  the  way,  and  in  the 
out-stations  across  the  hills,  and  the  pattern 
set  was  the  face  of  the  strong  Son  of  God. 


IX 


INK  AND  OIL 

THE  study  of  a missionary,  like  that  of 
his  brother  minister  in  the  homeland,  is 
frequently  a marvel  unto  many.  In  it 
there  is  an  order  which  defies  rule.  In  minia- 
ture, Ossian  is  piled  upon  Pelion,  and  the 
wonder  grows  that  a methodical  arrangement 
of  ideas  can  issue  from  the  midst  of  such  con- 
fusion. The  Corbett  study  at  Chefoo  was  no 
exception.  The  order  there  was  that  which 
was  established  by  everything  falling  naturally 
into  its  place  by  the  law  of  gravitation.  A' 
woman’s  hand  was  neither  needed  nor  desired 
there  to  arrange  furnishings  with  Martha-like 
precision.  The  study  kept  itself.  Its  contents 
were  well  known  to  but  one  man.  Yet  theo- 
retically this  study  was  the  most  orderly  of 
places,  for  facts,  accounts,  lists,  and  reports 
issued  in  constant  stream  from  it  with  un- 
questionable reliability.  Occasionally  in  some 
article  appearing  in  print  a statement  made  by 
Hunter  Corbett  would  be  challenged,  but  he 
could  always  readily  cite  the  proof  which  es- 
tablished his  position  beyond  controversy. 

88 


INK  AND  OIL 


89 


\ 

The  study  where  he  labored  so  industriously 
was  an  interesting  spot.  The  window  on  one 
side  looked  out  into  a little  court  containing 
a number  of  trees  of  the  owner’s  planting,  and 
upon  the  pyramidal  roof  of  a great  cistern. 
Across  the  court  was  the  old  church  built  in 
1867,  until  this  was  torn  away  within  the  past 
decade  and  more  modern  structures  graced 
the  site.  From  the  windows  on  the  other  side 
of  the  room,  one  formerly  looked  over  a 
stretch  of  garden  and  a hillslope  where  natives 
came  on  spring  days  to  fly  their  kites  and  hold 
their  bird  cages  in  hand  while  they  wooed 
strains  of  song  from  their  inmates.  Further 
down  the  hill  was  an  extension  of  the  native 
cemetery  with  scores  of  conelike  graves,  and 
beyond  a wide  expanse  of  dark-tiled  roofs,  till 
the  vision  rested  on  the  sea  reaching  its  blue 
arm  into  the  land  girt  pocket  among  the  moun- 
tains. The  islands  in  the  distance  gave  the  ap- 
pearance of  great  water  monsters  almost  sub- 
merged in  the  blue  of  the  ocean. 

It  was  here  within  the  four  walls  of  this 
room,  lined  by  cases  of  books  and  stacks  of 
papers  and  magazines  that  battles  of  faith  af- 
fecting the  future  of  Chefoo  and  Shantung 
were  fought  and  won.  / For  like  George  Mul- 
ler’s,, Hunter  Corbett’s  faith  was  accompanied 
by  dynamic  energy,  and  when  he  prayed,  he 


90 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


prayed  as  though  all  success  depended  upon 
prayer,  and  when  he  worked,  it  was  as  though 
it  all  depended  upon  work.  On  the  table  be- 
tween the  windows  was  a well-worn  Bible 
padded  with  notes  for  use  in  church  and  class- 
room, keeping  company  with  a copy  of  Chinese 
Scriptures,  and  the  two  were  always  within 
easy  reach  of  the  hand.  One  of  these  Bibles 
seen  there  in  19 11  had  recorded  upon  its  last 
leaf  no  less  than  a dozen  dates — an  entry  for 
each  time  the  volume  had  been  read. 

There  was  also  in  the  study  a consecrated 
inkstand,  and  out  of  it  the  lines  have  gone  into 
all  the  earth.  A plain  kerosene  lamp  was 
brought  into  the  study  in  the  hand  of  a servant 
each  evening  as  daylight  began  to  wane,  and 
labor  was  pushed  perseveringly  into  the  night 
hours.  Although  as  a custom  pursued  during 
later  years,  Hunter  Corbett  generally  did  his 
evening’s  reading  and  lighter  work  in  the 
cheery  sitting-room  where  his  children  studied 
their  lessons  and  the  tasks  of  the  day  were 
brought  to  a close.  Thus  the  oil  fed  the  flame, 
and  the  flame  gave  light  to  the  worker,  and 
the  ink  and  the  oil  became  significant  of  work 
done  in  the  study.  The  ink  flowed  like  a 
stream  to  join  a larger  volume  in  the  printer’s 
ink  at  the  local  press,  at  the  Shanghai  mission 
plant,  in  the  Board  rooms  at  New  York,  and 


INK  AND  OIL 


91 


through  the  rollers  of  numerous  weeklies  in 
America.  The  oil  in  the  lamp  merged  into 
the  beaten  oil  of  the  sanctuary  in  messages  that 
were  conscientiously  prepared  for  'the  local 
chapel  and  the  native  churches  and  in  other 
messages  that  were  delivered  in  the  pulpits  of 
America  from  the  Hudson  to  the  Willamette. 
He  never  permitted  his  mental  machinery  to 
rust  nor  his  messages  to  grow  stale  through 
repetition.  He  continually  added  to  his  homi- 
letic material  by  observation,  reading,  and  con- 
versation, and  brought  to  his  hearers  the  spoils 
thus  collected.  It  was  in  keeping  with  the  ad- 
vice and  warnings  he  gave  in  the  little  book, 
“Counsel  to  New  Missionaries,”  which  he 
helped  to  prepare,  a paragraph  of  which 
reads, — 


“A1  very  great  and  easily  besetting  danger, 
which  every  missionary  should  prayerfully  and 
carefully  guard  against  in  chapel  and  outdoor 
preaching,  is  preaching  practically  the  same  ser- 
mon day  after  day  and  to  the  end  of  life.  The 
constantly  changing  audience  and  manifold 
duties  always  pressing,  making  new  prepara- 
tion very  difficult,  is  not  a valid  reason  for  lack 
of  constant  preparation.  Freshness,  variety 
and  new  and  growing  power  can  only  come 
from  intellectual  effort,  careful,  prayerful  and 
diligent  study.  Without  this,  the  speaker  does 
an  irreparable  wrong  to  himself,  and  robs  his 


92 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


audience  of  the  freshness,  variety,  and  charm 
which  are  their  due,  and  which  should  be  ex- 
pected from  all  who  are  called  to  be  am- 
bassadors for  Christ.” 

Here  in  the  study  were  immense  stacks  of 
manuscripts  and  lectures  for  the  students  in  the 
Bible  Training  classes.  The  subject  matter  had 
been  collated  and  translated  with  assiduous 
care  and  patience,  for  thorough  preparation  has 
been  a law  of  the  study  in  this  line  as  well  as 
in  arranging  his  sermonic  material.  In  deliver- 
ing his  lectures  before  the  students,  the  manu- 
script was  thrown  aside,  but  the  principles  were 
so  followed  to  their  conclusions  that  nothing 
was  left  to  guesswork  in  the  hour  of  recitation. 
Perhaps  it  is  only  those  who  have  taught  in 
similar  schools  who  know  how  to  appreciate 
the  vastness  of  the  labor  connected  with  work- 
ing out  a system  of  truth  into  one’s  own  phrase- 
ology, and  then  turning  the  thought  into  an- 
other language  in  order  to  give  correctly  the 
proper  shades  of  meaning. 

There  are  extensive  files  of  sermons  in  the 
drawers  of  the  study  tables  and  cabinets,  be- 
speaking exhaustive  research  and  generous  ex- 
penditure of  gray  matter.  Four  volumes  of 
church  history  have  been  written  and  trans- 
lated for  the  use  of  Chinese  students.  A 
standard  work  on  Benevolence  has  also  been 


INK  AND  OIL 


93 


prepared.  Another  volume  on  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments has  been  brought  from  the  press. 
A Health  Primer  compiled  by  him  has  been 
given  a wide  circulation.  He  has  written  many 
tracts  as  need  arose  for  them  from  time  to 
time,  and  they  were  printed  in  ten  thousand 
lots  and  used  for  distribution  at  the  street 
chapel  and  on  his  itineraries. 

In  the  beginning  of  his  student  career, 
Hunter  Corbett  formed  the  habit  of  keeping  a 
journal,  in  which  he  wrote  the  happenings  of 
each  day,  descriptions  of  places  visited,  inter- 
esting items  gathered  from  persons,  newspa- 
pers and  books.  These  accounts  he  found  help- 
ful in  fixing  in  memory  the  facts  he  wished  to 
retain.  This  habit  he  continued  through  life, 
and  despite  the  weariness  which  must  have  at- 
tended his  long  itinerating  trips  and  manifold 
labors,  these  journals  have  been  kept  with 
painstaking  fidelity,  and  the  strong  graphic 
touch  with  which  he  describes  a conversation 
or  a scene  is  never  wanting.  Several  of  these 
large  journals  and  a number  of  smaller  ones 
are  extant,  and  had  not  his  study  been  looted 
one  time  during  his  furlough  in  America  and 
others  of  these  journals  stolen  by  the  thieves, 
the  entire  course  of  his  work  from  his  entry 
into  China  to  the  present  day  could  have  been 
traced.  As  it  is,  the  scholar,  who  in  the  future 


94- 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


writes  the  history  of  the  Christian  church  of 
North  China,  will  find  in  these  records  a verit- 
able treasure  of  information.  In  the  thou- 
sands of  pages  written  there  is  scarcely  a line 
of  florid  composition,  only  rugged  facts  and 
ejaculatory  prayers  as  though  they  burst  from 
a heart  longing  for  the  salvation  of  the 
Chinese.  Sometimes  a poem  from  an  ac- 
credited author  was  inserted,  showing  that  the 
poetic  in  his  soul  was  not  lacking.  Milk  and 
water  sentiment  and  introspective  twaddle, 
which  are  characteristic  of  so  many  diaries, 
are  absent  in  these  journals. 

The  extent  of  Hunter  Corbett’s  personal  cor- 
respondence will  not  be  known  until  the  Judg- 
ment revelations  are  made.  The  stream  of 
letters  from  his  pen  has  been  constant.  Re- 
turning from  his  itinerating  trips  each  spring 
and  autumn,  it  has  been  to  find  letters  requir- 
ing answer,  piled  a foot  high  upon  his  desk. 
Counting  it  as  one  of  the  privileges  of  friend- 
ship and  stewardship,  he  has  gone  to  his  task 
of  replying  like  a strong  man  rejoicing  in  some 
congenial  task.  Aside  from  his  personal  let- 
ters, during  the  fifty-seven  years  of  his  resi- 
dence in  China,  he  carried  on  a voluminous 
correspondence  with  the  press.  He  aimed  to 
write  frequent  letters  to  the  Presbyterian 
Banner,  and  as  he  could  find  time,  to  other  re- 


INK  AND  Oil, 


95 


ligious  papers.  The  clippings  from  these  sheets 
fill  two  large  scrap  books,  and  like  the  record 
of  Paul’s  missionary  journeys,  they  give  wide 
reaches  of  experience  and  labor  in  little  com- 
pass. 

Here  are  the  opening  sentences  from  several 
of  these  articles:  “During  the  past  two 
months,  I have  traveled  on  mule  upwards  of 
700  English  miles.’’  . . . “About  three  weeks 
since  I returned  from  an  interesting  journey 
of  two  months.  I made  a circuit  of  about 
1000  miles.”  . . . “During  the  past  fortnight 
I have  held  meetings  and  administered  the 
Lord’s  Supper  in  eight  centers  in  this  district. 
Nineteen  persons  have  been  received  into  the 
church.”  . . ^ “A  journey  of  about  two 
months  has  brought  me  to  the  churches  of  Chi 
Mi.  Thus  far  seventy-one  have  been  received 
into  the  church  on  profession  of  faith,  and  one 
by  letter,  making  123  additions  during  the  last 
eight  months.” 


X 


SHENDZA  AND  WHEELBARROW 

IN  the  southern  provinces  of  China  the 
houseboat  is  largely  in  favor  as  a means 
of  transportation  and  into  his  floating 
home  the  missionary  piles  bedding,  books, 
food,  and  cooking  utensils,  and  with  a trusted 
servant  or  two,  is  rowed  along  a river  or 
canal  to  some  strategic  point  where  he  makes 
his  headquarters  for  a limited  time,  and  then 
shifts  to  other  moorings  as  occasion  requires. 
Further  north,  this  favorite  mode  of  travel 
is  replaced  by  others  less  convenient.  Fre- 
quently a seat  or  light  platform  covered  with 
matting  is  attached  to  two  long  poles  and 
borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  two  or  more 
coolies,  and  in  this  slow-going  but  comfortable 
carriage  the  traveler  is  carried  from  point  to 
point. 

Small  caravans  of  shaggy  ponies  frequent 
the  highways  everywhere,  and  the  insolent  and 
inquisitive  mule  is  equally  ubiquitous  as  a com- 
mon carrier.  Loud-voiced  and  raw-backed,  he 
threads  the  path  leading  to  every  village  of  the 
north.  Sometimes  bedding  is  slung  across  his 
96 


SHENDZA  AND  WHEELBARROW  97 

I 

back  and  the  missionary  perches  upon  it,  until 
the  mule  appears  to  be  the  least  conspicuous 
object  of  an  itinerant  outfit.  If  the  animal  can 
be  persuaded  to  share  his  individuality  with  a 
cart,  he  is  put  into  the  shafts  of  a springless 
vehicle,  which  jerks  him  almost  off  his  feet 
on  a rocky  road.  His  one  consolation,  could 
he  only  know  it,  would  be  to  learn  that  on  the 
rough  highway  the  passenger  he  is  drawing 
is  gradually  being  battered  into  pulp.  The 
other  alternative  afforded  the  mule  is  to  pass 
his  days  in  company  with  another  of  his  kind 
at  the  other  end  of  a pair  of  poles,  to  which 
is  attached  a miniature  hut  in  which  the  mis- 
sionary can  lounge,  read,  doze  and  grow  sea- 
sick, as  mood  and  circumstances  may  deter- 
mine. This  latter  conveyance  is  the  famed 
shendza,  and  as  if  to  keep  it  from  growing 
lonely  in  its  peculiarity,  another  mode  of  loco- 
motion has  been  employed  for  many  centuries 
in  the  Celestial  Empire,  which,  for  its  unique 
grotesqueness,  outclasses  camel-car,  donkey 
cart  and  goat-wagon. 

This  other  is  the  Chinese  wheelbarrow. 
With  some  owners  the  wheels  are  rarely  ever 
oiled  or  greased,  and  they  protest  with  every 
revolution,  but  this  high-keyed  creaking  is  said 
to  be  music  to  the  Chinese  ear.  A frame  or 
platform  five  or  six  feet  in  length  and  about 


98 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


two-thirds  as  wide  is  built  over  a stout  wheel 
in  the  center  and  furnished  with  a pair  of 
handles.  On  this  platform  the  missionary  can 
stow  himself  and  his  belongings,  till  a weight 
of  over  500  pounds  is  aboard.  Then  the  slow 
journey  is  begun.  Sometimes  the  conveyances 
are  fitted  out  with  a sail  to  take  advantage  of 
favoring  winds.  More  often  the  help  is  given  - 
by  fastening  a rope  to  a ring  in  the  front  beam 
and  adding  more  coolie  power.  Occasionally 
a mule  is  attached,  but  it  is  well  to  know  the 
mule  before  the  attempt  is  made,  unless  the 
passenger  invites  disaster. 

Hunter  Corbett  has  pursued  his  missionary 
labors  using  all  these  modes  of  travel,  but  gen- 
erally his  itineraries  have  been  made  either  on 
horse  or  mule  back  or  by  the  shendza.  In  his 
first  trips  he  sought  to  reduce  the  outlay  of 
funds  to  the  lowest  possible  figure  in  the  de- 
sire to  economize  in  the  use  of  the  Board’s 
money.  He  spared  himself  at  no  point,  took 
as  little  baggage  as  possible,  ate  Chinese  food, 
and  endured  privations  and  hardships  of  no 
ordinary  character,  some  of  which  might  have 
been  averted  or  at  least  alleviated  by  a more 
generous  expenditure.  He  soon  found  the 
policy  by  which  he  worked  was  suicidal,  that 
it  was  burning  the  candle  at  both  ends,  that 
the  outlay  in  medicine  and  physical  discomfort 


SHENDZA  AND  WHEELBARROW  99 


was  greater  than  the  few  additional  coins 
necessary  to  conduct  his  tours  on  a basis  more 
compatible  with  the  demands  of  his  training 
and  nature.  So  he  increased  his  outfit,  and  in 
addition  to  the  one  or  two  native  preachers 
who  generally  accompanied  him,  he  took  along 
a cook,  who  prepared  the  meals  and  looked 
after  the  belongings,  and  an  extra  donkey,  and 
with  the  added  expense  of  about  twenty-five 
cents  a day,  found  that  he  could  increase  the 
volume  of  labor  very  perceptibly  and  the  better 
maintain  his  health.  The  purchase  of  his  own 
food  was  paid  from  his  salary,  and  the  ex- 
pense of  animals,  servant,  horse-feed,  carriage 
of  books,  rent  at  inns,  etc.,  he  charged  to  the 
account  of  itinerating.  Every  detail  of  the  out- 
fit was  carefully  planned,  and  the  mules 
weighted  with  loads  not  to  exceed  250  pounds. 
A complete  list  of  things  needed  for  an  itiner- 
ary of  1000  miles  included  clothing,  bedding, 
toilet  articles,  cooking  utensils,  food  supplies, 
dishes,  medicines,  stationery,  books,  a variety 
of  reading  material,  horseshoes  and  silver  in 
1,  2,  3,  4 and  5 tael  packages.  Thus  equipped, 
and  carrying  his  passport  with  him,  the  mis- 
sionary made  his  excursions  each  spring  and 
autumn. 

These  itineraries  were  prosecuted  under  try- 
ing conditions  during  the  early  years  of 


100 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Hunter  Corbett’s  experience  in  China.  He  was 
ill  and  his  trips  were  frequently  made  in  great 
pain.  At  the  close  of  his  day’s  labor  he  would 
ride  to  some  inn  and  lie  down  upon  the  hard 
bed  of  the  hostelry,  weary  to  the  point  of  com- 
plete exhaustion.  Sometimes  it  was  difficult 
to  secure  even  the  poor  lodging  afforded  by 
the  miserable  inns  of  the  interior  villages.  The 
hostelry  gates  would  often  be  slammed  in  his 
face  when  the  proprietor  became  aware  that 
his  guest  was  to  be  a hated  foreigner.  Hunter 
Corbett  soon  learned  to  gain  entrance  to  the 
inn  by  sending  his  coolie  ahead  to  feed  the 
mule  he  was  accustomed  to  ride,  but  even  then 
the  gates  were  likely  to  be  barred  if  the  owner 
saw  him  coming  in  time  to  effect  his  purpose. 
Diplomacy  was  then  resorted  to  through  the 
crack  of  the  gate. 

“Does  Confucius  teach  you  to  do  this?” 

“No,”  would  be  the  reluctant  reply. 

“Does  he  not  say  that  we  should  be  kind  to 
the  stranger?” 

“Yes,”  would  come  the  still  more  reluctant 
answer. 

“Then  should  you  not  let  me  in  to  my  mule 
and  boy?” 

This  time  no  answer,  but  soon  the  gate 
would  swing  back  and  the  proprietor  would  be 
ready  with  his  deceitful  answer,  “I  am  so  glad 


SHENDZA  AND  WHEELBARROW  101 


to  see  you.  If  I had  known  that  it  was  you, 
I would  have  been  out  to  meet  you.” 

These  Chinese  inns  were  no  sanctuary  for  a 
weary  missionary.  Animals  and  men  were 
housed  together.  The  kangs  were  insufferably 
hard.  The  rooms  dark  and  miserably  fur- 
nished, the  space  occupied  by  coffins,  boxes, 
chests,  baskets  and  whatever  else  the  landlord 
might  choose  to  store  within  the  rooms  as- 
signed to  the  traveling  public.  The  mules  and 
donkeys  brayed  through  the  night  and  the  ir- 
regular feeding  times  of  the  keepers  were  sure 
to  start  oft-repeated  and  long-continued  tor- 
rents of  discord.  The  fleas  were  incessantly 
active  and  seemed  to  find  special  delight  in 
feeding  on  missionary  flesh.  People  subject 
to  every  species  of  native  peculiarity  were 
packed  into  these  hostelries.  Some  drank, 
others  smoked  opium,  many  gambled,  and  all 
talked,  and  sometimes  they  fought  by  reviling 
one  another.  They  were  awake  at  all  hours 
of  the  night  and  engaging  in  violent  discus- 
sions. When  they  slept  it  was  to  take  away  the 
sleep  of  the  just  by  their  snoring. 

However,  in  these  places  of  sojourn,  little 
groups  of  men  were  drawn  into  conversation 
by  Hunter  Corbett  and  instructed  in  the  Way. 
Sometimes  they  refused  to  hear,  but  the  mis- 
sionary’s understanding  of  Chinese  nature  and 


102 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


his  rare  tact  in  dealing  with  his  listeners  in- 
variably secured  him  a respectful  hearing. 
Thus  he  traveled  through  the  province  sowing 
the  Gospel  seed  beside  all  waters.  One  of  the 
objective  points  sought  by  him  on  his  itiner- 
aries was  the  hwei  or  market  of  the  inland 
villages.  Here  the  natives  came  in  great  num- 
bers drawn  by  the  commercial  instinct,  and  with 
unlimited  time  at  their  disposal  they  were 
ready,  like  the  Athenian  loungers,  for  any  new 
thing.  The  missionary  frequently  furnished 
this  diversion,  and  if  able  to  stand  the  insult- 
ing gibes  of  the  natives  with  unruffled  temper 
and  deftly  turn  their  rude  attacks  to  good  ac- 
count, he  could  make  of  these  occasions  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  for  extending  the  Gospel. 

To  the  Chinese  mind  fifty  years  ago,  the  out- 
side world  was  wholly  barbarian  and  the  idea 
was  preposterous  that  foreigners  should  come 
to  teach  them.  The  missionary’s  message  was 
apt  to  be  treated  with  contempt  and  ridicule. 
“What  are  you  here  for?”  they  would  often 
shout.  “We  do  not  want  you  nor  to  hear  your 
message.  We  have  a better  doctrine  in  the 
teachings  of  Confucius.”  Some  such  remark 
as  this  latter  was  what  Hunter  Corbett  was 
waiting  for,  and  he  would  seize  upon  it  for  a 
favorable  turn  in  his  open-air  address.  “Does 
not  Confucius  say  all  who  dwell  between  the 


SHENDZA  AND  WHEELBARROW  103 


four  seas  are  brothers?  You  have  parents, — 
I have  also.  Your  parents  and  mine  also  had 
parents  before  them,  but  who  was  first?  I 
come  to  tell  you  that,  and  show  how  we  are 
brothers,  and  how  we  should  assist  in  putting 
down  the  opium  trade,  help  one  another  in 
times  of  famine,  teach  how  children  should 
obey  and  respect  their  parents,  and  how  par- 
ents should  love  their  children.  As  we  are 
brethren,  we  have  a great  Father  in  heaven. 
He  has  given  us  His  Son  to  save  us  from  sin 
and  to  keep  us  from  doing  evil  and  strengthen 
us  to  do  right.  He  raises  us  from  the  dead 
and  gives  us  a home  in  heaven.” 

In  this  way  he  would  reason  with  his  hear- 
ers, speaking  to  them  of  those  features  of  their 
religion  which  we  hold  in  common  and  so  pass 
to  a consideration  of  things  Christians  hold  as 
being  most  precious.  And  that  the  human  ele- 
ment might  not  be  lacking,  a personal  invi- 
tation was  frequently  extended  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  his  remarks,  “Come  to  our  Chapel  at 
Chefoo  when  you  are  there.  The  men  will  tell 
you  some  of  the  best  things  you  ever  heard 
in  your  life.  Then  they  will  let  you  in  to  the 
museum  to  see  the  monkeys,  birds,  lions,  tigers 
and  other  curiosities  and  it  will  not  cost  you  a 
cash.” 

The  evident  relish  with  which  Hunter  Cor- 


104* 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


bett  engaged  in  this  phase  of  work  was  an  in- 
spiration to  his  co-laborers.  Rev.  W.  O.  Elter- 
ich,  long  associated  with  him  in  many  of  his 
later  journeys,  thus  describes  his  observations 
on  his  first  trip  in  his  company, — 

“Hardly  were  the  mule  litters  put  on  the 
ground  when  Dr.  Corbett  was  hard  at  work, 
preaching  to  the  gathering  crowd.  Market 
preaching  and  preaching  in  the  villages  is  a 
feature  of  his  evangelistic  work  in  which  he 
has  been  quite  successful.  There  is  not  a mar- 
ket town,  scarcely  a village  in  Dr.  Corbett’s 
field,  in  which  he  had  not  preached  and  dis- 
tributed tracts,  and  as  a consequence  he  is  well 
known  all  over  the  country.  At  every  station 
that  we  visited,  the  native  Christians,  old  and 
young,  of  both  sexes,  had  to  recite  portions  of 
Scripture  which  Dr.  Corbett  had  assigned  to 
them  to  commit.  It  was  wonderful  to  see  how 
much  some  of  them  could  recite.  This  I 
noticed  was  one  of  the  best  features  of  his 
work — the  grounding  of  the  native  Christians 
in  the  Scriptures.” 

Despite  the  indifference  with  which  his 
messages  were  often  heard,  there  were  com- 
pensations and  responses  of  a gratifying 
nature.  On  his  first  tour,  Wang  Tsei,  who 
afterward  proved  such  a valuable  fellow-la- 
borer, was  won  for  the  Kingdom  out  of  con- 
ditions of  street  preaching  like  those  described 


SHENDZA  AND  WHEELBARROW  105 


above.  On  another  occasion  a priest  in  one 
of  the  heathen  temples  was  converted.  He  had 
about  twenty-five  idols  as  his  personal  pos- 
session. These  were  purchased  by  the  mission- 
ary, and  are  to  be  found  in  several  public  and 
private  museums  in  America.  One  of  them 
was  among  the  exhibits  of  “The  World  in  Chi- 
cago.” The  converted  priest  became  a faithful 
follower  of  the  Master. 

These  itineraries  during  the  first  years  of 
the  missionary’s  labors  were  somewhat  barren 
of  results  as  compared  with  those  of  his  later 
ministry  in  these  circuits.  For  example,  in 
1883  he  returned  from  one  trip  when  250  per- 
sons were  baptized — more  than  the  entire  num- 
ber during  the  first  fifteen  years  of  service. 
They  were  also  interrupted  by  sorrows  which 
came  to  his  home  circle.  On  September  27th, 
1870,  a son  named  Ross  Herbert  was  born 
into  the  household,  but  when  a year  old,  lack- 
ing only  a few  days,  the  little  child  was  laid 
to  rest  in  the  foreign  cemetery  almost  within 
the  shadow  of  the  church  upon  the  hill.  The 
entry  of  this  first  breaking  of  the  home-links 
occupies  a page  of  his  Journal  and  is  sum- 
marized by  the  line,  “Our  hearts  ache,  yet  we 
know  that  ‘it  is  well  with  the  child.’  ” 

Following  upon  this  separation  came  the  de- 
cline of  the  mother.  The  rigorous  demands 


106  HUNTER  CORBETT 

made  upon  her  during  the  trying  six  months’ 
voyage  to  China,  the  distressing  privations  in 
the  heathen  temple  at  Tengchow  and  the  un- 
avoidable exposure  in  the  haunted  house  at 
Chuki,  combined  to  undermine  her  health,  and 
on  March  ioth,  1873,  she  passed  on  to  be  with 
her  Savior.  There  is  something  singularly  pa- 
thetic in  the  picture  presented  in  the  simple  ac- 
count recorded  in  his  Journal  when  Hunter 
Corbett,  with  an  assistant,  planes  the  boards 
with  which  to  frame  a coffin  for  his  companion, 
covers  them  with  black  broadcloth  from  their 
storeroom,  and  with  his  three  little  children 
follows  her  to  the  grave.  Out  of  the  experi- 
ence his  faith  and  submission  emerged  tri- 
umphantly acquiescing  in  her  oft-expressed 
wish,  “How  I should  like  to  go  to  sleep  some 
night  and  awake  in  heaven.” 


XI 


THE  SONS  OF  BELIAL 

THE  tender  mercies  of  the  heathen  are 
cruel  and  their  wrath  as  billows  of 
flame.  No  rage  is  more  pitiless  nor 
hatred  more  unresting  than  that  shown  in  the 
treatment  of  converts  in  the  non-Christian 
lands.  A'  man’s  most  bitter  foes  are  they  of 
his  own  household.  To  choose  Christ  in  China 
has  in  the  past  frequently  meant  that  the  dis- 
ciple called  upon  his  head  the  persistent  per- 
secutions of  his  clan.  The  advance  of  the 
Christian  church  in  Shantung  province  has 
been  over  a path  of  blood.  Revilings,  intimi- 
dations, threatenings,  defamations,  slanders, 
banishments,  beatings,  tortures  and  death, — 
all  are  in  the  list  of  afflictions  borne  for  Christ’s 
sake  by  those  who  have  been  bought  with  re- 
demption’s price. 

The  journals  and  scrap-books  of  Hunter 
Corbett  show  an  appalling  array  of  persecu- 
tions coming  under  the  eye  of  the  missionary. 
Ducks  and  pigs  were  killed,  mules  and  cattle 
driven  off,  wheat  and  millet  trampled  into  the 
ground,  sweet  potatoes  up-rooted,  the  unripe 
107 


108 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


fruit  knocked  from  the  branches  and  the  trees 
hacked  and  girdled,  because  the  owners  have 
made  open  confession  of  Christ.  Cues  have 
been  torn  from  the  scalp,  betrothals  broken, 
divorces  secured,  and  the  Christians  treated  as 
outcasts,  simply  because  they  had  chosen  Christ 
as  their  supreme  portion.  Upon  their  refusal 
to  support  the  heathen  temples  and  join  in  an- 
cestral worship,  the  converts  were  brought  into 
the  presence  of  the  officials,  falsely  accused  and 
unjustly  convicted  of  crimes  and  then  scourged 
without  mercy. 

In  a district  to  the  southwest  of  Chefoo,  one 
man  so  persecuted  was  beaten  three  hundred 
blows  with  the  bamboo,  and  another  seven  hun- 
dred. The  flesh  was  often  reduced  to  a jelly  by 
these  beatings.  Sometimes  the  converts  were 
maimed  for  life  and  occasionally  they  died  as 
a consequence  of  their  cruel  treatment.  Money 
was  often  times  extorted  from  these  poor  un- 
fortunates in  order  that  they  might  escape  pun- 
ishment and  imprisonment.  Their  buildings 
were  fired  by  their  malicious  persecutors,  and 
the  officials  have  been  known  to  refuse  to  take 
steps  toward  securing  redress.  In  one  case  a 
man  was  severely  beaten  with  clubs  by  his 
neighbors  after  his  house  with  all  its  contents 
had  been  burned.  The  village  official  refused 
redress  and  the  man  left  the  locality  for  sev- 


THE  SONS  OF  BELIAL 


109 


eral  months.  At  length,  in  the  hope  that  he 
might  rebuild  his  home  and  resume  his  farm- 
ing, he  returned  to  his  native  village,  only  to 
be  seized  by  the  same  neighbors,  suspended  by 
his  thumbs  to  a beam  in  an  idol  temple  and 
beaten  unmercifully  with  sticks  of  wood.  He 
was  slapped  in  the  face  with  the  shoe  soles  of 
his  tormentors  until  his  eyes  were  swollen  well- 
nigh  shut.  At  one  place  the  Christians  were 
beaten  in  the  presence  of  the  officials  till  the 
blood  flowed.  Chains  were  then  fastened  about 
their  necks  and  they  were  led  through  the 
streets  to  the  public  market  place  and  tied  up 
like  cattle  while  the  policeman  in  charge  kept 
shouting,  “These  are  not  Chinese  subjects,  but 
of  the  order  of  inferior,  or  second-class  devils.” 

Through  conditions  like  these  Hunter  Cor- 
bett conducted  his  itineraries.  There  was 
scorn,  hatred,  and  reviling  on  every  side.  So 
often  were  stones  and  clods  hurled  in  his  di- 
rection that  the  pony  he  was  accustomed  to  ride 
never  met  a group  of  men  on  the  way  without 
visible  trembling  and  shying  as  far  to  one  side 
as  the  road  would  permit.  The  missionary’s 
ears  were  filled  from  morning  till  night  with 
vile  epithets  and  insulting  remarks.  To  liken 
a man  to  an  animal  or  compare  him  with  a 
beast  is  peculiarly  insulting  to  the  Chinese 
mind,  hence  it  was  that  he  was  called  “the 


110 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


lion”  or  “the  tiger”  by  his  enemies.  More 
often  he  was  reviled  as  “the  devil”  or  “foreign 
devil”  with  all  that  the  name  signified  implied 
in  the  appellation,  and  as  though  to  give  varia- 
tion to  the  opprobrious  epithet  he  would  be 
reviled  as  “the  great  devil”  or  “the  unclean 
devil.” 

In  1873,  when  he  took  his  three  motherless 
children  into  the  interior  in  response  to  a writ- 
ten invitation  of  about  a hundred  representa- 
tives in  the  Chi  Mi  district  that  he  should  come 
and  teach  the  Gospel  in  their  villages,  he  met 
with  a spirit  of  hostility  which  broke  into  open 
persecution  before  he  returned  to  the  coast. 
The  account  is  given  mainly  in  his  own  lan- 
guage as  taken  from  his  Journal  and  from  the 
review  of  the  court  trial  published  at  the  time 
the  case  was  tried.  “When  riding  along  the 
road  or  passing  through  the  towns  and  villages 
we  constantly  hear  the  people  saying  to  one  an- 
other, ‘Here  comes  the  devil,’  ‘Come  and  see 
the  old  devil,  come  quick!’  Boys  will  run  to 
call  their  mothers  and  sisters.  Often  the  peo- 
ple at  work  in  the  field  will  yell  to  one  another, 
‘Hi-ya,  do  you  see  the  devil?’  One  will  take 
it  up  and  repeat  it  to  another.  It  will  be  echoed 
from  hill  to  hill  until  by  night  your  ears  are 
fairly  stunned  by  the  constant  reiteration  and 
you  rejoice  night  has  come  and  you  escape  for 


THE  SONS  OF  BELIAL 


111 


a few  hours  the  epithets  so  freely  and  loudly 
applied.  When  I traveled  with  my  children 
and  came  near  enough  to  be  seen  distinctly,  the 
people  yelled  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  ‘Hi-ya! 
here  come  the  great  devil  and  the  little  devils, 
too.’  This  was  too  much  for  the  people. 
Every  one  left  his  work  and  rushed  with  all 
haste  to  get  a closer  view.  When  I reached  a 
new  village  the  news  spread  like  wildfire  and 
the  entire  village,  old  and  young,  men  and 
women  and  children,  rushed  out  to  get  a sight.” 

The  coming  of  the  Corbett  children  seemed 
to  open  the  way  into  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
and  little  classes  of  inquirers  were  soon  formed 
at  several  centers  in  the  district.  The  preach- 
ing of  previous  years  and  the  instruction  given 
on  the  present  itinerary  were  greatly  blessed  of 
God,  and  after  several  months  of  labor,  within 
three  weeks,  one  hundred  persons  were  bap- 
tized on  the  threshing  floors,  which  served  as 
places  of  assembly.  This  success  was  the  signal 
for  widespread  and  bitter  persecution.  The 
new  converts  were  everywhere  reviled  and  had 
all  manner  of  evil  attributed  to  them.  Many 
of  them  were  beaten,  some  were  driven  from 
their  homes  and  others  subjected  to  the  vilest 
abuse  imaginable.  Nor  did  Hunter  Corbett 
and  his  helpers  fail  in  receiving  their  share  of 
persecution  at  the  hands  of  the  evilly  disposed 


112 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


in  the  villages  where  they  preached.  The  hos- 
tility of  the  baser  element  in  these  communities 
manifested  itself  in  such  manner  as  to  call  for 
a reckoning  in  the  courts,  and  an  examination 
of  the  evidence  as  recorded  shows  the  follow- 
ing facts. 

One  Sabbath  morning  early  in  December, 
1873,  while  Hunter  Corbett  was  still  laboring 
in  the  Chi  Mi  district,  he  left  his  children  and 
their  nurse  in  the  village  where  he  had  estab- 
lished his  temporary  home,  and  passed  over 
to  Nan  Pei  Ling  to  hold  service  and  administer 
the  Lord’s  Supper.  On  returning  it  was  neces- 
sary to  go  through  the  market  town  Wong 
Yen,  a place  notorious  for  its  gambling  and 
wine  drinking.  A great  crowd  was  attending 
an  open-air  theater  as  he  rode  into  the  street 
leading  through  the  town.  Many  of  the  peo- 
ple ranged  themselves  along  the  narrow  thor- 
oughfare, and  as  soon  as  he  was  well  into  the 
crowd  a volley  of  stones  was  hurled  at  him. 
His  spirited  horse  was  hit  and  dashed  ahead 
at  a rapid  gait  and  the  rider  barely  escaped 
with  his  life.  The  magistrate,  to  whose  at- 
tention these  irregularities  were  reported,  is- 
sued a proclamation  stating  the  treaty  rights 
of  missionaries  and  forbidding  interference  or 
persecution,  but  was  remiss  in  posting  copies 
of  the  same  in  the  markets  and  temples  of  the 


THE  SONS  OF  BELIAL 


113 


district.  The  attitude  of  this  official  plainly 
fostered  a spirit  of  lawlessness  which  speedily 
found  expression  in  an  attempt  at  violence. 

Toward  the  close  of  December,  an  annual 
festival  was  being  held  in  Uh  Wang  temple 
about  three  miles  from  Kwo-pu,  the  village 
where  Hunter  Corbett  was  stopping  with  his 
children.  The  Christian  helpers  thought  this 
would  be  a good  opportunity  to  preach  the 
doctrine,  so  he  went  to  this  place  and  began  to 
speak  near  the  temple  walls.  A large  crowd 
gathered,  and  urged  on  by  some  rough  fellows, 
began  reviling  and  throwing  stones.  The  mis- 
sionary retired  into  the  temple  thinking  the 
crowd  would  soon  disperse,  but  he  was  fol- 
lowed and  missiles  were  thrown  at  him  from 
every  direction.  Finally  a native  of  courage 
and  influence  came  to  his  side  and  said, 

“You  must  get  out  of  harm’s  way  at  once.” 

“I  have  no  way  to  get  out,”  said  Hunter  Cor- 
bett. 

The  man  answered,  “Give  me  your  riding 
whip  and  follow  me.” 

He  took  the  whip,  and  sharply  striking  those 
in  front,  opened  the  way  through  the  crowd 
and  the  missionary  followed  close  behind  him. 
Reaching  the  doorway  the  man  said,  “Now 
rush  for  your  life  and  I will  try  to  keep  the 
crowd  from  overtaking  you.”  As  the  rioters 


114 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


saw  their  victim  about  to  escape  they  charged 
toward  him,  but  their  leaders  stumbled  over 
the  raised  doorsill  and  fell.  This  checked  the 
advance  of  the  crowd  for  a few  precious  sec- 
onds and  gave  Hunter  Corbett  a chance  to  re- 
gain his  horse,  which  was  tied  near  by.  Mount- 
ing it  he  dashed  through  a shower  of  stones  and 
clods  and  hastily  made  his  way  back  to  Kwo- 
pu.  Here  he  was  soon  joined  by  messengers, 
who  informed  him  that  his  helpers,  Sung 
Yung-Shieu  and  Wang  Li-Tung,  had  been 
wounded  and  a mob  was  planning  to  make 
an  attack  upon  his  home  during  the  night. 
A'  conference  was  held  with  the  Christians  in 
Kwo-pu,  and  it  was  decided  to  leave  at  once 
for  the  county  seat.  The  little  company  left 
as  soon  as  darkness  fell  and  traveled  by  paths 
so  as  to  avoid  the  villages  where  the  rioters 
lived.  The  native  Christians  carried  the  three 
Corbett  children  upon  their  backs,  and  through- 
out the  cold  bitter  night,  in  which  the  party 
made  its  escape,  they  gave  unquestionable  proof 
of  their  devoted  loyalty. 

On  the  day  following  the  flight  from  Kwo- 
pu,  protection  was  sought  from  the  officer  of 
the  city,  but  later  evidence  showed  him  to  be 
in  sympathy  with  the  lawless  element  which 
was  causing  the  missionary  trouble  in  Chi 
Mi,  and  rather  than  avail  himself  of  the  very 


THE  SONS  OF  BELIAL 


115 


unreliable  guard  which  was  offered,  Hunter 
Corbett  hired  a horse  and  cart  and  left  the  city 
before  daybreak  the  next  morning  and  pushed 
on  toward  Chefoo.  He  left  behind  the  faith- 
ful Lin-Lung-Me  to  advise  and  assist  the  native 
Christians,  instructing  him  also  upon  his  re- 
turn to  Chefoo  to  hire  conveyances  and  bring 
along  the  belongings  left  at  Kwo-pu.  Soon 
after  Hunter  Corbett  reached  home,  he  received 
a letter  from  Lin-Lung-Me,  stating  that  two 
days  after  the  missionary  left,  “he  had  hired 
a donkey  with  which  to  take  certain  effects 
from  the  city  to  Kwo-pu  and  had  sent  a man 
with  the  donkey  before  him,  promising  to  go 
himself  in  the  afternoon.  This  man  returned 
about  noon,  reporting  that  he  had  been  over- 
taken on  the  road  by  men,  who  seized  the 
donkey  with  the  articles  it  was  carrying,  and 
threatened  him  with  a beating,  in  consequence 
of  which  he  fled,  leaving  the  animal  in  their 
possession. 

“At  night  messengers  came  from  Kwo-pu, 
saying  that  a number  of  persons  had  gone 
in  the  afternoon  to  that  place,  had  broken  open 
the  door  of  the  foreigner’s  house,  smashed  the 
windows,  torn  open  the  boxes  and  girdled  and 
injured  trees  in  the  yard.”  The  rioters  drove 
off  the  cow  and  calf  which  the  missionary  had 
been  keeping  on  the  rented  property,  but  later, 


116 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


in  the  fear  of  punishment  that  might  be  in- 
flicted upon  them  by  their  officials,  they  re- 
turned these  animals,  together  with  the  donkey, 
and  a lamp  and  some  other  articles  of  loot. 
The  destruction  and  pilfering  had  been  quite 
general,  however,  as  only  four  boxes  were  re- 
quired to  bring  back  from  Kwo-pu  the  contents 
of  the  ten  boxes  which  had  originally  been 
taken  to  the  village  in  September. 

The  messenger  who  brought  the  letter  from 
Lin-Lung-Me  to  Hunter  Corbett  brought  word 
also  of  the  spread  of  mob  violence  to  the  homes 
of  the  Christians  in  the  Chi  Mi  district.  The 
missionary  promptly  placed  the  matter  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Shepherd,  the  Consul  for  North 
China,  and  twenty-eight  of  the  rioters  were 
later  summoned  to  Chefoo,  where  they  were 
tried  before  the  Taotai,  and  the  American 
Consul,  who  came  from  Tientsin  for  the  pur- 
pose of  assisting  in  the  trial. 

The  trial  was  held  during  the  latter  part 
of  May  and  early  in  June  in  1874,  and  the 
contention  of  Hunter  Corbett  was  fully  sus- 
tained by  both  the  Consul  and  the  Taotai,  and 
sentence  passed  upon  the  rioters.  Two  of  the 
officers  were  beaten  and  degraded  from  office, 
six  of  the  ring-leaders  were  whipped,  and  all 
the  accused  made  to  enter  into  a bond  for 
Hunter  Corbett’s  personal  safety  while  he  re- 


THE  SONS  OF  BELIAL 


117 


mained  in  China.  This  last  proviso  was  so 
faithfully  kept  that  when  he  next  appeared  in 
China  the  natives  scolded  their  dogs  if  by 
chance  they  barked  at  him. 

The  hostility  of  the  natives  was  variously 
shown  in  different  localities  of  the  province. 
At  one  place  his  enemies  fiendishly  cut  off  the 
tail  of  his  horse;  at  another  they  so  stirred  up 
the  villagers  that  he  was  compelled  for  safety’s 
sake  to  seek  the  inn  only  after  nightfall  and 
leave  before  daybreak.  Once  a robber  sought 
to  intimidate  him  and  secure  the  silver  he  was 
carrying  for  the  relief  of  the  famine  sufferers, 
but  met  disaster  by  the  prompt  action  of  the 
missionary.  The  list  of  his  persecutions  and 
revilings  during  the  earlier  years  of  his  service 
is  a lengthy  one,  and  the  attitude  of  mind  on 
the  part  of  the  Chinese  generally  was  far  from 
friendly  prior  to  his  first  furlough  in  1875. 

When  he  returned  to  China  a year  later  the 
harvests  had  failed,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1877 
a great  famine  gripped  five  extensive  provinces 
of  Northern  China,  and  it  is  estimated  that  nine 
or  ten  million  persons  perished  from  hunger 
and  fever.  Generous  sums  were  contributed 
by  foreign  merchants  and  others  in  China,  and 
money  was  sent  also  from  Europe  and  America 
and  distributed  by  the  missionaries,  and 
through  their  efforts  many  thousands  of  lives 


118  HUNTER  CORBETT 

I 

were  saved  and  untold  suffering  alleviated. 
These  gifts  and  labors  on  the  part  of  the  for- 
eigners and  the  missionaries  effected  a marked 
change  in  the  feelings  of  the  Chinese.  They 
could  readily  see  the  good  results  of  such  ef- 
forts and  gradually  came  to  respond  to  them 
so  that  instead  of  meeting  the  itinerants  with 
reviling  and  hostility,  they  were  now  willing 
to  talk  with  them  as  friends  and  listen  to  the 
Gospel  message  and  study  Christian  books. 
The  sons  of  Belial  were  thus  supplanted  by  the 
disciples  of  the  Galilean. 


XII 


CHINESE  TIMOTHIES 

TN  a land  where  the  public  school  is  want- 
pi  ing,  the  problem  of  educating  the  con- 
verts to  an  understanding  of  the  principles 
of  the  Christian  religion  is  a difficult  one.  The 
larger  cities  and  the  port  towns  of  China  have 
schools,  but  they  are  altogether  inadequate  to 
supply  the  need.  In  the  interior  are  hundreds 
of  villages  without  a school,  and  there  the 
young  grow  to  maturity  in  densest  ignorance, 
a prey  to  superstition  and  the  intrigues  of  cun- 
ning men.  To  bring  the  light  of  true  knowl- 
edge to  these  benighted  souls  is  indeed  to  pro- 
claim liberty  to  the  captives  and  the  opening 
of  the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound.  There 
are  large  villages  in  China  with  no  more  than 
fifty  pupils  in  their  schools,  leaving  thousands 
of  young  people  without  proper  school  advan- 
tages. It  is  difficult  for  the  Occidental  to  cor- 
rectly estimate  the  strength  inherent  in  the 
customs  and  habits  of  thought  which  shackle 
the  Oriental.  Vested  with  the  sacredness 
which  comes  with  traditions  centuries  old, 
these  customs  are  as  firmly  fixed  in  Chinese 
119 


120 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


life  as  were  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians 
in  the  time  of  Cyrus.  To  break  through  this 
crust  of  adamant,  ten  thousand  spears  of  mod- 
ern enterprise  have  been  shattered.  Only  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  has  been  able  to  pierce 
through  and  discover  the  warm  heart-beats  be- 
neath this  immobile  exterior. 

With  the  winning  of  his  first  convert  to 
Christianity  within  16  months  after  he  had 
reached  China,  Hunter  Corbett  was  impressed 
with  the  necessity  of  giving  such  religious  in- 
structions that  a convert  could  in  turn  impart 
the  knowledge  of  the  Savior  to  others  and  so 
extend  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ.  He  be- 
lieved that  if  the  Shantung  province  and  the 
Chinese  Empire  were  to  be  Christianized,  it 
must  be  the  Chinese  themselves  who,  as  Spirit- 
filled  agents  of  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord, 
should  spread  the  message  and  win  the  people. 
After  fifty-six  years  of  earnest  and  successful 
labor  this  conviction  still  remained  with  him 
wholly  unshaken.  This  first  convert,  Elder 
Wang  Tse,  came  early  to  the  study  each  morn- 
ing and  was  patiently  instructed  in  the  Word. 
From  the  Gospel  record  he  studied  the  life  of 
Christ.  To  this  was  added  a knowledge  of  the 
miracles  and  the  parables.  A'  compend  of 
systematic  theology  was  imparted  through  the 
Westminster  Shorter  Catechism.  Then  the 


CHINESE  TIMOTHIES 


121 


epistles  were  studied  and  almost  before  it  was 
realized,  the  Pauline  method  of  instructing  his 
Timothy  was  happily  established.  Meantime 
other  converts  had  been  added  to  the  church 
and  from  these  first  members  some  who  gave 
promise  of  future  usefulness  were  added  to  the 
class  and  given  similar  training.  Gradually 
it  was  found  necessary  to  extend  the  curricu- 
lum, making  the  course  in  theology  more  com- 
plete and  adding  Church  History  and  other 
studies.  Lectures  were  prepared  and  given  to 
the  growing  classes. 

Dr.  J.  L.  Nevius  came  to  the  station  in  1871, 
and  the  two  missionaries  joined  forces  and 
more  effectively  systematized  the  work.  Con- 
verts added  to  the  church  through  their  itin- 
erating labors  were  brought  to  Chefoo,  and  by 
the  process  of  selection  described  in  a previous 
chapter,  certain  of  their  number  were  passed 
on  to  other  schools  and  more  thoroughly  fur- 
nished for  their  work  as  pastors,  evangelists, 
colporteurs,  teachers,  and  helpers  in  the  main 
centers  and  at  the  outstations  of  the  interior. 

The  earliest  efforts  of  the  missionary  in  try- 
ing to  establish  elementary  schools  were  not 
specially  successful.  Native  prejudice  and  hos- 
tility had  to  be  overcome.  The  first  attempt 
made  at  the  haunted  house  was  a failure.  Af- 
ter removing  to  Chefoo,  another  effort  was 


122 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


made.  A small  building  was  rented  in  the  vil- 
lage and  three  pupils  secured,  but  the  loafers 
and  neighbors  filled  the  ears  of  the  boys  with 
tales  of  killings,  and  intimidated  the  native 
teacher.  These  meddlers  partially  accomplished 
their  purpose  for  soon  two  of  the  boys  lost  their 
nerve  and  ran  away  and  the  teacher  slipped 
out  between  two  days  and  sent  back  word  that 
he  did  not  have  the  grace  and  courage  to  be- 
come a martyr  just  yet.  One  pupil  in  a rented 
building  with  a hostile  neighborhood  picking 
at  him  was  not  a very  promising  outlook  for  a 
school,  but  Hunter  Corbett  held  on.  Soon  a 
widow  came  to  him  in  great  distress,  telling 
him  she  had  lost  all  her  children  except  a 
twelve-year-old  boy,  and  he  was  at  the  point 
of  death  with  fever.  The  native  doctors  could 
do  nothing  for  her  son.  If  he  would  only 
help  her  and  save  him,  she  would  give  him 
the  boy  for  his  school. 

Hunter  Corbett  took  her  at  her  word.  He 
got  down  his  doctor’s  books  and  read  instruc- 
tions ; then  going  home  with  the  woman,  prepa- 
rations were  made  to  give  the  boy  a dry  sweat. 
The  mother  was  barred  out  of  her  own  home 
and  operations  began.  The  boy  wailed  and 
besought.  The  mother  weakened  and  vainly 
sought  to  rescue  her  son,  but  it  was  too  late; 
the  heroic  treatment  went  firmly  on ; the  fever 


CHINESE  TIMOTHIES 


123 


was  broken  and  the  healing  reputation  of  the 
missionary  established.  Later  the  boy  entered 
school  according  to  agreement  and  so  the  fight 
for  the  life  of  the  embryonic  institution  was 
continued.  The  entry  in  the  Journal  on  March 
16th,  1866,  tells  the  odds  to  be  confronted  in 
the  struggle  for  maintaining  the  school.  “Four 
of  our  school  boys  have  left  us.  People  inter- 
fered, telling  them  they  would  be  taken  to  the 
foreign  country,  have  but  three  boys  now  in 
school.  Several  have  wanted  to  come  but  I 
would  not  receive  them  unless  they  gave  pa- 
pers that  they  would  come  permanently.”  In 
order  to  avoid  the  mischief-makers,  who  con- 
gregated about  the  building  in  the  village,  the 
school  was  removed  in  September  to  the  Chi- 
nese guest  room  at  Hunter  Corbett’s  home  on 
Temple  Hill.  New  buildings  were  contracted 
for  in  the  rear  of  the  lot  to  accommodate,  not 
only  the  boys,  but  certain  girls  also. 

These  buildings  were  erected  with  money 
furnished  by  the  Brick  Church  of  New  York. 
Miss  C.  B.  Downing,  a friend  and  associate 
of  Mrs.  Corbett,  who  had  assisted  in  the  work 
at  the  Indian  school  at  Wapunucka,  had  come 
to  Chefoo  in  April,  1866,  and  before  the  close 
of  the  year,  buildings  had  been  erected  and  six 
girls  secured  as  pupils  for  the  school  which  was 
placed  in  her  charge.  Thus  side  by  side  these 


124. 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


two  branches  of  the  educational  work  were  de- 
veloped. In  the  wake  of  these  beginnings  nu- 
merous schools  under  native  teachers  were  also 
established  throughout  the  province,  the  policy 
being  to  organize  such  schools  wherever  Chris- 
tians in  sufficient  numbers  could  be  secured  to 
assist  in  maintaining  them  for  their  children. 
In  this  way,  instruction  has  been  given  to  the 
young  in  scores  of  villages  where  otherwise 
nothing  would  have  been  done  for  their  train- 
ing. In  these  schools  many  boys  of  promise 
were  trained  and  transferred  to  Chefoo  and 
given  still  more  advanced  instruction. 

The  gift  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars from  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Wichita,  Kansas,  in  1887,  made  possible  the 
erection  of  the  buildings  for  the  High  School. 
This  work  was  specially  fathered  by  Hunter 
Corbett,  and  from  the  graduates  he  has  se- 
cured some  of  his  most  trusted  and  efficient 
helpers.  It  has  been  by  those  of  older  years, 
however,  the  converts  of  many  itinerating  la- 
bors, that  the  work  has  mainly  been  built  up 
into  its  present  substantial  proportions.  These 
men  have  been  gathered  to  Chefoo  each  year 
for  sessions  lasting  from  one  to  three  months 
and  there  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  funda- 
mental truths  of  the  Bible.  During  the  remain- 
der of  the  year,  they  have  gone  to  the  villages 


CHINESE  TIMOTHIES 


125 


of  the  interior  carrying  the  message  of  life 
from  market  to  market  as  evangelists,  teach- 
ing in  the  schools,  and  preaching  in  the  con- 
gregations assigned  to  them,  and  doing  a vast 
amount  of  pioneer  missionary  work. 

Referring  to  the  Personal  Report  for  1908 
as  published  by  Hunter  Corbett,  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  itinerat- 
ing work  as  carried  on  by  him  and  his  native 
helpers  in  the  outlying  districts  can  be  gained. 

“During  the  year  it  has  been  my  privilege 
to  spend  upwards  of  four  months  preaching 
in  the  interior.  Services  were  held  in  organ- 
ized churches  and  wherever  there  are  groups 
of  Christians.  Examinations  were  held  in  the 
village  schools  to  see  if  teachers  and  pupils 
were  faithfully  doing  the  work  assigned  them. 
The  aged,  the  sick,  and  all  in  need  were  visited. 
Much  of  my  time  was  given  to  preaching  to 
the  non-Christians  in  towns  and  villages  ex- 
tending over  five  thickly  populated  counties. 
Eighty-eight  men  volunteered  to  spend  from 
five  days  to  a month  in  going  from  village  to 
village,  without  pay,  to  do  whatever  they  could 
to  make  Christ  known.  Leaders  were  chosen 
and  bands  of  two  or  more  sent  in  all  directions 
so  that  no  place  should  be  passed  by.  During 
a period  of  thirty-two  days,  tracts  were  dis- 
tributed and  the  Gospel  preached  in  824  dif- 
ferent towns  and  villages.  After  pastor 
Wang’s  return,  I left  for  a two  months’  jour- 
ney, chiefly  preaching  in  villages  not  already 


126 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


visited.  I had  with  me  an  average  of  twelve 
preachers  and  at  times  the  volunteer  help  of 
men  whose  farms  did  not  require  their  full 
time.  On  this  journey  we  were  able  to  preach 
in  602  towns  and  villages.  At  every  place  not 
only  large  numbers  of  men  assembled  and  lis- 
tened orderly,  but  in  most  places  many  women 
and  children  came  within  hearing  and  listened 
attentively.  In  September  I started  on  another 
journey  in  the  interior  and  during  the  first 
month  we  were  able  to  preach  in  215  centers; 
many  of  them  we  had  not  reached  in  the 
spring.  I had  with  me  six  faithful  and  earnest 
preachers,  who  cheerfully  endured  hardships 
as  good  soldiers  and  did  excellent  work.  Later 
I made  another  journey  of  forty  days  and  had 
a golden  opportunity  to  aid  in  seed  sowing,  and 
confidently  hope  much  seed  has  fallen  into  good 
ground  and  will  soon  yield  an  abundant  har- 
vest.” 

Twenty-five  men  were  immediately  prepared 
for  service  in  regular  evangelistic  work  in  the 
Bible  Training  School  under  the  instruction 
of  Hunter  Corbett  and  Dr.  Elterich  and  these 
men  gave  proof  of  their  ministry  as  shown  by 
the  report  to  the  Foreign  Board  in  1910.  Un- 
der Pastor  Wang  of  the  local  church,  they 
went  out  in  eight  groups.  “They  began  at 
Chefoo  and  extended  operations  to  the  south 
and  southeast,  covering  a territory  of  one  hun- 
dred miles  by  thirty,  and  visiting  over  eight 
hundred  villages.  Dr.  Corbett  followed  later 


CHINESE  TIMOTHIES 


127 


continuing  the  work  still  further  to  the  south- 
east, near  the  sea  coast  and  thus  touching  ter- 
ritory not  usually  reached  by  missionaries.  In 
all  these  campaigns,  the  Chinese  Christians 
rendered  most  efficient  help  with  voluntary 
service,  both  old  and  young  taking  part.  These 
campaigns  made  a great  impression  upon  the 
country  people.” 

The  matter  of  support  for  his  growing 
schools  and  native  helpers  lay  heavy  upon 
Hunter  Corbett’s  heart  at  many  times.  The 
church  at  large  failed  to  respond  with  sufficient 
gifts  to  meet  the  budget  as  outlined  before  the 
General  Assembly,  and  of  necessity  the  For- 
eign Board,  as  the  agent  of  the  church,  was 
compelled  to  reduce  the  appropriations  for  the 
various  stations  abroad.  These  were  trying 
occasions  to  Hunter  Corbett.  From  the  record 
of  one  of  these  experiences,  we  can  picture  him 
gathering  together  his  thirty  self-denying  as- 
sistants, men  whose  salaries  were  only  from 
three  to  six  dollars  a month  according  to  the 
size  of  their  families,  men  who  had  seen  from 
ten  to  twelve  years’  service  for  the  Master,  and 
telling  them  the  straits  to  which  the  Mission 
was  reduced,  but  promising  out  of  his  own  re- 
sources while  they  continued  faithful  in  the 
work,  “As  long  as  God  gives  me  bread  I will 
share  it  with  you.” 


— - 


XIII 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  CHURCHES 

IT  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  pen  to1  describe 
the  feeling  of  depression  which  sometimes 
overtakes  the  missionary  when  the  novelty 
of  new  surroundings  has  disappeared,  and  he 
finds  himself  confronted  by  the  conditions  of 
raw  heathendom.  A strange  speech  fills  his 
ears.  Motley  throngs  surge  past  him  with  the 
restless  moving  of  the  anthill.  Looks  of  con- 
tempt and  hostility  are  cast  upon  him.  Even 
the  men  of  his  own  country  whom  trade  has 
called  to  the  city  where  the  mission  is  located, 
are  not  in  sympathy  with  his  efforts.  From  his 
first  conquests  of  the  native  language,  he  learns 
that  neither  he  nor  his  message  are  wanted  by 
these  to  whom  he  is  sent.  Their  mode  of 
thought  is  different.  The  traditions  and  cus- 
toms of  centuries  have  bound  them  hand  and 
foot.  They  grovel  at  the  feet  of  their  idols  in 
the  blind  worship  of  superstition  and  igno- 
rance. They  cheat  their  gods  and  then  cheat 
one  another.  There  is  no  support  to  be  gained 
by  an  appeal  to  authoritative  Scripture  and  an 
intelligent  public  sentiment.  The  Sabbath  is 
128 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  129 


unknown.  Morals  are  low.  There  is  very 
much  religion.  There  is  very  little  righteous- 
ness. Waves  and  billows  roll  over  the  soul 
of  the  missionary  in  this  waking  hour  and 
only  they  who  have  faith  in  God  can  over- 
come. Some  call  it  the  “horror  of  heathen 
darkness,”  the  “cloud  of  depression,”  the 
“stone  wall  of  indifference,”  “a  dry  desert 
where  there  is  no  water.”  Realizing  its  nature 
they  cry  out  like  Xavier,  “O  rock,  rock,  when 
wilt  thou  open.” 

It  requires  considerable  time  for  the  mis- 
sionary of  modern  times  to  get  a correct  meas- 
ure of  the  situation  after  his  arrival  upon  the 
field.  He  is  generally  received  into  an  envi- 
ronment prepared  for  him  before  his  arrival. 
If  not  in  a house  of  his  own,  at  least  in  quar- 
ters provided  by  the  mission,  he  begins  his 
study  of  the  language,  and  shielded  by  the  com- 
panionship, experience,  and  labors  of  others, 
he  loses  the  sharp  impact  which  comes  to  the 
sensitive  when  thrown  directly  in  touch  with 
native  life  and  conditions.  Herein  lies  the 
temptation  peculiar  to  thq  new  missionary. 
Housed  from  the  harsh  inclemencies  of  hea- 
thenism and  not  compelled  to  grapple  with 
them  first  hand,  the  tendency  is  to  follow  the 
line  of  least  resistance  and  content  one’s  self 
with  secondary  things — theory,  machinery, 


130 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


and  the  methods  of  other  men.  It  was  into  an 
altogether  different  environment  missionaries 
to  China  were  conducted  fifty  years  ago.  In 
the  spring  of  1865,  when  Hunter  Corbett  made 
his  first  itinerary  from  the  haunted  house  to 
the  west  of  Chef 00,  he  had  no<  church  into 
which  to  gather  believers  other  than  the  church 
in  his  own  house.  When  he  removed  to  the 
village,  it  was  still  to  advance  the  work  with- 
out a church  building.  But  in  his  study  he 
gathered  little  groups  of  servants  and  work- 
men, and  by  and  by  inquirers  began  to  come 
so  frequently  that  it  became  necessary  to  pro- 
vide regular  instruction  for  them. 

Atnong  the  mercies  he  enumerated  on  New 
Year’s  Day  1867,  is  the  fact  that  during  the 
past  year  he  had  organized  a church  of  six 
members  “which  at  this  date  numbered  17.” 
This  little  band  included  the  fruit  he  had  been 
able  to  gather  from  his  labors  at  Chefoo  and 
three  months’  itinerating  in  the  interior.  As 
he  found  men  on  these  itineraries  who  were  in- 
terested in  learning  the  way  of  life,  his  plan 
was  to  give  them  what  instruction  he  could 
during  the  time  of  his  rapid  passage  from  vil- 
lage to  village.  He  would  then  arrange  with 
them  to  come  to  Chefoo  at  the  close  of  the  itin- 
erary when  he  would  form  an  inquiry  class  and 
extend  the  instruction  and  so  ground  the  con- 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  131 


vert  in  the  principles  of  the  Word.  These 
disciples  were  then  enjoined  to  return  to  their 
native  villages,  seek  out  their  friends,  rela- 
tives, and  neighbors,  and  tell  them  the  Gospel 
story,  and  have  those  who  might  in  turn  be 
interested  meet  the  missionary  as  he  passed 
through  their  part  of  the  province  on  his  next 
journey.  In  this  way  the  itinerating  circle  and 
the  number  of  converts  continually  increased 
until  eventually  it  required  the  traveling  of 
over  a thousand  miles  on  each  of  the  semi-an- 
nual trips  to  cover  the  districts  thus  opened  by 
his  endeavors  and  those  of  his  converts.  Gen- 
erally about  fifty  persons  were  sufficiently  in- 
terested on  one  of  these  journeys  to  seek  bap- 
tism and  admission  into  the  church,  and  from 
these  a continual  replenishing  of  the  training 
classes  was  secured.  One  year,  more  than 
three  hundred  were  received  into  the  church, 
and  naturally  the  number  of  those  seeking  fur- 
ther instruction  was  considerably  augmented. 

The  shepherding  of  these  sheep  was  no  easy 
task.  Far  removed  from  the  nourishing  fold 
at  Chefoo,  they  were  ofttimes  a prey  to  de- 
vouring wolves, — persecutors,  proselyters, 
busy-bodies, — who  wrought  havoc  with  the 
flock  rescued  from  their  wilderness  condition. 
Many  of  them  were  the  victims  of  China’s  be- 
setting curse — the  opium  habit — and  after  a 


132 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


struggle  toward  freedom  and  seeming  victory 
they  would  again  become  submerged  by  their 
old  sins.  In  a land  where  people  work  seven 
days  of  the  week  without  thought  of  a holy 
rest  day,  it  was  exceedingly  difficult  to  instruct 
the  converts  to  observe  the  requirements  of  the 
Fourth  Commandment.  Then,  too,  when  the 
storm  of  persecution  broke  upon  them  as  it 
was  well  nigh  certain  to  do,  a few  of  them 
would  be  sure  to  give  way  before  it  and  choose 
to  go  back  to  their  people  and  the  customs 
which  had  kept  their  ancestors  in  idolatrous 
chains  for  centuries.  Moreover,  many  of  these 
converts  were  dependent  upon  non-Christians 
for  employment,  and  the  loss  of  the  goodwill 
of  their  masters  often  meant  serious  compli- 
cations in  the  matter  of  earning  a livelihood. 
To  know  how  far  the  necessary  discipline 
might  be  exercised  without  alienating  these 
weaklings  from  the  church,  was  a question 
which  constantly  required  the  exercise  of  rare 
tact  and  discernment  on  the  part  of  the  mis- 
sionary. 

“What  is  right  and  what  would  the  Savior 
do?”  were  the  two  questions  which  Hunter 
Corbett  kept  continually  before  him  in  deal- 
ing with  his  converts.  As  fast  as  it  was  pos- 
sible, native  evangelists  were  trained  and 
placed  in  charge  of  these  inland  congregations. 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  133 


Each  out-station  had  its  little  school  and  a 
map  of  the  province  seen  at  the  Chefoo  mis- 
sion station  in  1911  showed  it  to  be  dotted  with 
no  less  than  fifty-three  churches,  preaching 
stations  and  schools  which  were  an  outgrowth 
of  the  work  at  Hunter  Corbett’s  headquarters. 
As  certain  of  these  out-stations  developed  into 
centers  of  missionary  importance,  permanent 
missions  would  be  located  and  the  work 
throughout  prescribed  districts  would  be  as- 
signed to  them.  In  this  way  has  the  work  been 
opened  at  Wei  Hsien,  Ichowfu,  and  Tsing- 
Tau,  from  influences  set  in  operation  by  the 
missionaries  at  Chefoo  and  Tengchow. 

The  itineraries  of  Hunter  Corbett  taken  each 
spring  and  fall  were  the  means,  besides  that  of 
correspondence,  employed  by  him  to  keep  in 
touch  with  the  inland  congregations.  It  re- 
quired two  or  three  months  to  cover  the  route 
each  season.  He  was  greatly  aided  on  his 
journeys  by  the  native  preachers  and  evangel- 
ists whom  he  employed  and  who  kept  the  work 
well  in  hand  at  many  of  the  villages  through 
which  his  trails  lay.  His  labors  were  greatly 
extended  by  the  recognition  given  to  his  hu- 
mane endeavors  to  relieve  suffering  and  dis- 
tress in  times  of  national  calamity.  The  bane- 
ful shadow  of  a distressing  famine  fell  across 
Northern  China  in  the  autumn  of  1876,  and 


134 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


for  more  than  a year  lay  heavy  upon  the  land, 
causing  untold  misery  and  wide-spread  suffer- 
ing. By  the  spring  of  the  following  year  the 
starving  people  were  trying  to  support  life 
by  eating  the  branches  and  bark  of  trees  and 
the  dried  vines  of  the  sweet  potato.  Grain 
and  liberal  sums  of  money  were  sent  from 
many  parts  of  the  world  for  these  sufferers, 
and  were  distributed  mainly  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  missionaries.  Hunter  Corbett  be- 
gan his  work  of  relief  in  the  Chi  Mi  district 
and  carried  it  on  until  the  first  harvests  came, 
when  he  returned  to  Chefoo  and  found  great 
numbers  of  starving  refugees  congregated 
there,  a ready  prey  to  the  wasting  famine  fever. 

A meeting  of  the  foreign  residents  was 
held  and  he  was  authorized  to  make  the  neces- 
sary provision  to  meet  the  distressing  situa- 
tion. Inns  were  rented  as  a substitute  for  hos- 
pitals. Mat  tents  were  erected  on  the  sea 
beach  to  provide  shelter  for  the  most  serious 
cases.  Men  were  employed  as  cooks  and 
nurses;  others  were  hired  to  bury  the  dead. 
Dr.  I.  R.  Carmichael,  an  eminent  Scottish 
physician  residing  in  the  foreign  settlement, 
volunteered  his  services  and  was  joined  by  a 
native  Christian  doctor  connected  with  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  Mis- 
sion. This  man  soon  .fell  at  his  post,  then  Dr. 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  135 


Carmichael  died.  The  cooks  and  nurses,  one 
by  one,  succumbed  to  the  fever  and  only  a few 
of  them  recovered.  So  far  as  could  be  ascer- 
tained, Hunter  Corbett  was  the  only  one  daily 
and  closely  connected  with  this  special  work 
at  Chefoo  who  escaped  the  terrible  disease.  In 
the  midst  of  the  dangerous  and  exhaustive  de- 
mands made  upon  him,  his  duty  seemed  plain 
that  he  should  do  all  he  could  to  relieve  suf- 
fering, save  life,  and  tell  the  sick  and  dying 
of  the  only  Savior.  His  colleague,  Dr.  J.  L. 
Nevius,  did  a like  noble  and  difficult  work  in 
a large  district  in  the  center  of  the  province 
with  grand  results.  This  unwavering  fidelity 
on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  was  an  “open 
sesame”  for  their  future  labors  and  secured  a 
response  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  which  led  to 
the  conversion  of  many  of  them,  the  establish- 
ing of  additional  churches,  and  the  extension 
of  wider  itineraries. 

The  oversight  of  the  work  developed  by  this 
itinerating  was  a continual  joy  to  Hunter  Cor- 
bett, and  the  letters  which  he  would  write  to 
the  religious  press  and  to  his  friends  in  Amer- 
ica after  returning  to  Chefoo  from  these  la- 
borious rounds,  teem  with  interesting  facts 
touching  upon  incidents  noted  by  the  way. 
After  each  furlough  in  America,  upon  his  re- 
turn to  China,  one  of  the  first  duties  that 


136 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


would  claim  his  attention  was  the  visit  to  the 
interior.  These  were  occasions  of  glad  re- 
union with  the  members  of  his  widely  scat- 
tered parishes.  It  was  his  feeling  that  until 
he  had  once  more  visited  them  and  endeavored 
to  strengthen  their  faith  and  establish  them, 
he  could  not  say,  “I  am  free  from  the  blood 
of  all  men.”  Sometimes  in  these  far  inland 
journeys,  he  would  be  without  mail  or  a word 
from  home  for  six  weeks.  He  tells  of  his  ex- 
perience in  the  interior  following  the  furlough 
of  1896-1897.  “It  has  been  a rare  privilege  to 
meet  hundreds  of  converts  to  Christianity, 
some  of  whom  I baptized  from  ten  to  thirty 
years  ago;  also  to  meet  many  who  have  re- 
cently come  into  the  Church.  Not  only  has  my 
heart  been  made  glad,  but  my  faith  has  been 
strengthened  in  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to 
change  lives  and  make  happy  Christian  homes. 
Many  of  the  Christians,  especially  the  aged 
ones,  wept  for  joy,  saying  they  had  long  been 
praying  and  hoping  that  they  might  again  be 
permitted  to  see  their  pastor’s  face  before 
death.  Many  of  the  members  whom  I had 
known  had  been  called  to  their  reward ; others, 
on  account  of  famine  or  other  causes,  have  re- 
moved beyond  this  province;  others  have 
back-slidden.  The  constant  wonder,  however, 
to  me  is,  that  in  the  midst  of  so  much  dark- 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  137 


ness,  superstition,  persecution,  and  often  living 
far  from  churches  and  Christian  society,  so 
many  remain  steadfast  and  witness  for 
Christ.” 

On  these  inland  trips  Hunter  Corbett  was 
keenly  alive  to  every  incident  that  came  with- 
in range  of  his  observation,  and  his  note  books 
are  stocked  with  accounts  of  interesting  hap- 
penings and  experiences  by  the  way.  He  is  at 
once  counselor  and  comforter,  entering  into 
the  homely  pleasures  of  the  people  and  shar- 
ing his  sympathy  in  their  affliction.  On  one 
such  round  he  tells  of  a faithful  disciple  who 
was  arrested  by  the  magistrate  and  beaten  four 
hundred  blows  with  the  heavy  bamboo  and  then 
led  about  the  streets  with  a chain  around  his 
neck  while  the  policeman  having  him  in  charge 
reviled  him.  The  man’s  only  offense  was  that 
he  had  become  a Christian  and  refused  to  deny 
his  Lord.  He  tells  also  of  an  old  father  who 
appeared  before  the  session  of  one  of  the  lit- 
tle inland  churches  asking  for  baptism  and 
when  questioned  as  to  what  led  him  to  believe 
in  Jesus  and  desire  to  be  a Christian,  he  pointed 
to  his  son  about  thirty  years  of  age  and  said, 
“The  changed  life  of  that  boy.  He  was  a 
gambler,  idle,  disobedient,  and  a continual 
grief  to  me.  No  sooner  had  he  begun  to  study 
the  Bible  and  meet  with  the  Christians  on  the 


138 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Sabbath  than  a mighty  change  came  over  him, 
He  became  a new  creature,  and  since  then  has 
been  all  that  I could  wish.  I could  not  but 
think  that  a religion  which  had  such  power 
must  be  true,  and  not  the  evil  thing  so  many 
said  it  was.  I began  to  read  the  Bible  and 
learned  to  pray.  The  love  of  Christ  now  fills 
my  heart  and  I wish  to  be  his  disciple.” 

One  of  his  narratives  tells  also  of  his  meet- 
ing a blind  elder  in  a little  village  among  the 
mountains  more  than  three  hundred  miles  back 
from  the  coast.  He  was  a man  of  fine  educa- 
tion and  taught  school  until  the  age  of  thirty- 
eight  when  he  lost  his  sight.  The  account  pro- 
ceeds: “Seventeen  years  ago  he  heard  the 
Gospel  for  the  first  time.  The  Lord  opened  his 
heart  to  receive  it.  His  little  daughter  spent 
hours  daily  sitting  by  her  father’s  side  with  the 
New  Testament  before  her,  and  with  her  finger 
she  made  the  shaping  of  the  character  on  her 
father’s  hand.  This  enabled  him  to  recall  the 
sound  and  the  meaning  of  the  character.  In 
this  way  the  daughter  learned  to  read,  and  the 
father  committed  to  memory  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew  and  John,  also  Acts,  Romans,  and 
Revelations — in  all,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
chapters.  He  told  me  his  custom  is  to  repeat 
all  he  has  committed  every  twelve  days.  Each 
morning  he  repeats  five  chapters  and  the  same 


THE  CARE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  139 


in  the  evening.  He  said  often  when  he  had 
recited  a chapter  he  stopped  to  meditate  and  fix 
the  meaning  in  his  heart.  When  the  Chris- 
tians meet  for  worship  and  each  reads  a verse 
in  turn,  this  man  takes  his  turn  and  is  able  to 
correct  any  mistakes  made  by  others.  He  has 
become  mighty  in  the  Scriptures.  He  can  state 
the  way  of  salvation  in  the  clearest  manner  and 
defend  the  truth  against  all  opponents.  The 
Roman  Catholics  who  are  doing  their  utmost 
to  proselyte  our  members  and  destroy  our 
work,  have  learned  that  it  is  best  not  to  try  to 
meet  him  in  argument.  He  quotes  the  Scrip- 
tures and  shows  them  their  departures  there- 
from in  a way  that  they  cannot  answer.  Two 
years  ago,  within  less  than  one  month,  his 
mother  aged  eighty-five,  his  wife,  sixty-four, 
and  an  only  grandson,  nine,  all  died.  He  says 
he  first  gives  thanks  that  they  were  the  Lord’s 
disciples  and  the  Lord  took  them  to  himself; 
second,  he  fasts  in  memory  of  the  sore  bereave- 
ment and  bitterness  of  this  life.” 


XIV 


THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  TIGER 

TO  be  all  things  to  all  men,  if  by  any 
means  some  may  be  saved,  has  been  a 
principle  of  sincere  evangelism  from  the 
time  of  Paul  to  the  present  day.  Missionaries 
have  not  been  slow  to  adopt  it  and  employ 
means  to  bring  themselves  into  sympathetic 
contact  with  the  natives.  The  street  chapel  has 
been  one  of  the  methods  used  in  China.  Its 
success  or  failure  depends  upon  the  man  giv- 
ing the  general  invitation  to  passers-by  at  the 
chapel  doorway  and  the  use  he  makes  of  his 
means  and  message  when  he  has  secured  his 
company  within.  Preaching  to  a street  crowd 
in  the  market  place  is  subject  to  untold  inter- 
ruptions. The  speaker  must  be  quick  and  re- 
sourceful in  answering  the  numerous  ques- 
tions and  in  meeting  the  attacks  of  his  audi- 
ence, all  the  while  hastening  rapidly  from  one 
fundamental  truth  to  another,  and  leaving  the 
way  open  for  further  discourse  with  those  de- 
sirous of  learning  more  concerning  his  mes- 
sage. Preaching  in  a street  chapel  is  an  im- 
provement upon  this  method.  The  speaker 
is  relieved  of  many  of  the  scenes  which  serve 
140 


THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  TIGER  141 


to  divert  the  attention  of  his  hearers  in  the 
market  places.  Though  he  may  not  be  wholly 
free  from  interruption,  he  is  in  much  better 
position  to  exact  a respectful  hearing,  and  can 
with  stronger  emphasis  drive  home  the  truth 
to  an  audience  which  he  is  likely  never  again 
to  address. 

Sabbath  preaching  in  the  regular  station 
church  may  be  attended  with  still  more  satis- 
factory results,  but  until  the  native  is  suffi- 
ciently interested  in  the  Gospel  to  inquire  the 
way  of  life,  he  is  not  likely  to  concern  himself 
with  the  meetings  of  the  Christians  in  their  ap- 
pointed place  of  worship.  It  is  to  interest  the 
native  in  his  customary  haunts  and  have  him 
stop,  look,  and  listen  for  his  eternal  welfare, 
that  the  street  chapel  has  been  established.  If 
there  can  be  coupled  with  it  some  inducement 
which  will  draw  the  audience  like  a magnet, 
this  can  be  turned  into  good  account  to  the 
glory  of  God.  So  it  is,  that  the  curiosity  of 
men  and  the  cages  of  stuffed  animals  can  be 
made  a means  of  grace.  This  is  why  the  mu- 
seum has  been  attached  to  the  street  chapel  in 
the  mission  at  Chefoo  and  other  centers,  and 
the  results  have  justified  the  union.  Seeing  the 
way  it  has  worked  in  bringing  the  people  to- 
gether, a missionary  of  Chefoo  remarked  one 
day,  “That  chapel  and  museum  are  a man  trap 


142 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


for  the  Lord.”  Certain  it  is,  that  a large 
mounted  Bengal  tiger,  a den  of  lions,  numerous 
cases  of  stuffed  birds  and  fishes,  and  many 
other  exhibits,  have  played  an  important  part 
in  drawing  audiences  and  advancing  a knowl- 
edge of  the  Gospel  through  the  northeastern 
section  of  Shantung  province.  A street  chapel 
where  preaching  services  were  held,  and  reli- 
gious books  and  tracts  sold,  had  been  in  opera- 
tion in  Chefoo  ever  since  the  eventful  night 
when  Hunter  Corbett  and  his  men  successfully 
enacted  their  squatter’s  coup  during  the  first 
winter  he  spent  in  the  port  of  Chefoo.  During 
the  subsequent  years  of  service,  he  collected  nu- 
merous curios  which  he  placed  in  his  home  and 
in  one  of  his  school  buildings.  It  has  always 
been  one  of  the  principles  of  his  ministry  to 
bring  himself  into  sympathetic  relations  with 
the  Chinese,  and  he  uses  whatever  will  rightly 
serve  to  gain  their  interest  and  good  will. 

Early  in  his  missionary  career,  Hunter  Cor- 
bett noticed  that  the  Chinese  were  interested 
in  his  few  curios,  and  as  the  collection  grew, 
their  interest  increased.  Then  came  the 
thought,  why  not  use  these  objects  to  gain  an 
audience.  He  felt  that  with  a thousand  dol- 
lars at  his  command  to  supplement  his  collec- 
tion and  provide  quarters  for  them,  he  could 
do  a far  reaching  work  and  multiply  many- 
fold  his  present  efforts  at  chapel  preaching  in 


THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  TIGER  143 


Chefoo.  With  this  plan  in  mind  he  laid  it  be- 
fore certain  friends  in  America  while  at  home 
on  his  first  furlough,  with  the  result  that  Mr. 
D.  Wilson  Moore  of  Clayton,  N.  J.  gave  the 
initial  thousand  dollars  with  which  to  build 
and  furnish  such  a plant  as  he  desired.  This 
gift  was  followed  by  others  of  like  amount  in 
after  years  by  this  same  friend.  Singularly 
enough,  the  second  thousand  dollars  given  at 
this  date  was  contributed  by  another  bene- 
factor bearing  the  same  family  name.  This 
time  it  was  Rev.  Braden  Moore,  a friend  of 
college  days.  The  fund  grew,  and  when 
Hunter  Corbett  returned  to  Chefoo  at  the 
close  of  his  furlough,  he  had  sufficient  money 
in  hand  to  begin  negotiations  for  a site  in  the 
heart  of  the  city. 

Chefoo  was  now  no  longer  the  little  town  of 
fishermen’s  huts  that  it  was  when  he  first  saw 
it  thirteen  years  before.  It  had  grown  in  size 
and  population  as  but  few  places  in  China. 
Prices  had  risen  accordingly,  and  first  efforts 
to  secure  the  proper  site  for  the  museum  and 
chapel  were  doomed  to  disappointment.  In 
the  midst  of  his  search,  however,  a wealthy 
business  man  who  lived  in  a commodious 
house  on  the  main  street  of  the  city  and  con- 
ducted a flourishing  business  in  buildings  at- 
tached to  his  home,  sent  for  him  and  said  that 
he  had  heard  the  missionary  was  looking  for 


1M 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


a building  to  be  used  as  a museum  and  street 
chapel,  and  then  asked,  “How  would  you  like 
to  have  my  home  property?”  Hunter  Corbett 
replied  that  it  was  a splendid  place  but  sup- 
posed it  would  cost  twice  as  much  as  he  could 
pay  for  it.  “Well,”  said  the  man,  “you  are 
doing  a good  work  and  I will  put  the  price 
just  as  low  as  I can  and  give  you  an  additional 
gift  of  five  hundred  dollars.”  The  figures 
were  submitted,  and  the  price  agreed  upon 
was  about  half  what  the  property  would  have 
actually  realized.  In  this  way  a valuable  block 
of  buildings  reaching  from  one  street  to  an- 
other was  secured  and  made  over  to  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  in  New  York.  The  curios 
and  mounted  birds  were  brought  from  the  Cor- 
bett home  and  the  school  building  and  arranged 
in  their  new  quarters.  Local  taxidermists  pre- 
pared numerous  exhibits,  exchanges  were  made 
with  collectors  in  America,  friends  in  different 
parts  of  China  sent  miscellaneous  specimens; 
missionaries  interested  in  natural  history  added 
to  the  collection,  and  Dr.  Paul  D.  Bergen  ren- 
dered valuable  service  to  the  new  enterprise 
by  his  efforts  and  contributions.  In  a short 
time  a surprisingly  good  collection  of  natural 
history  objects  had  been  gathered  and  ar- 
ranged. To  these  were  added  certain  mechani- 
cal toys  and  devices  which  were  a never  end- 
ing source  of  wonder  to  the  Chinese, — the  elec- 


THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  TIGER  145 


trie  engine  with  its  attendant  train  of  coaches 
proving  a ready  favorite.  Exclamations  of  de- 
light continually  fill  the  place  while  the  ex- 
hibits are  being  surveyed,  and  surprise  never 
ceases  that  the  birds  do  not  fly  away,  the  beasts 
of  prey  remain  stationary  and  harmless,  and 
the  snakes  do  not  shut  their  widely  extended 
jaws  and  glide  to  cover.  It  is  a veritable 
Smithsonian  Institution  to  these  plain  people 
of  the  ocean  craft  and  the  mountain  huts. 

On  one  of  his  itineraries  Hunter  Corbett  had 
heard  of  a dwarf  about  three  feet  in  height  re- 
siding at  one  of  the  inland  towns.  This  little 
man  had  never  seen  a foreigner  nor  heard  the 
Gospel  preached,  but  in  response  to  an  invita- 
tion, he  came  to  see  the  missionary.  He  was 
asked  if  he  would  be  willing  to  come  to  Chefoo 
and  be  doorkeeper  at  the  museum  and  show  the 
visitors  the  exhibits.  He  was  too  greatly  agi- 
tated by  the  sight  of  the  foreigner,  and  the 
prospect  of  a new  calling  to  know  his  own 
mind,  but  with  proper  Chinese  caution  said  he 
would  think  over  the  matter,  and  went  away. 
The  next  day  he  returned  and  leading  Hunter 
Corbett  away  from  the  company  which  he  had 
been  addressing,  he  said  to  him  that  if  the  mis- 
sionary would  be  a father  to  him  in  that  strange 
place  he  would  go.  This  was  promised,  and 
arrangements  were  made  to  bring  him  to 
Chefoo.  His  legs  were  so  short  that  he  could 


146 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


not  ride  the  mule  that  was  hired  to  carry  him. 
So  he  was  placed  in  a basket  on  one  side  of  a 
pack  mule  and  his  weight  balanced  with  mer- 
chandise on  the  other  side  of  the  saddle,  and 
thus  for  five  days  he  traveled  to  his  new  home. 

When  the  Corbett  boys  learned  of  their 
father’s  promise  to  be  the  dwarf’s  father,  they 
said  they  must  have  their  part  in  the  program 
of  adoption,  and  so  these  stalwart  six-footers 
called  the  three-footer  their  “big  brother.” 
The  dwarf  was  to  many  visitors  the  greatest 
curiosity  in  the  museum.  He  became  an  earn- 
est Christian,  and  daily  in  his  special  way  wit- 
nessed for  Christ.  When  the  people  were  look- 
ing at  the  great  variety  of  mounted  birds  in 
the  glass  cases,  he  would  say  to  them,  “Do  you 
know  who  made  the  birds?  If  there  were  no 
birds,  insects  would  soon  multiply  so  that  it 
would  be  useless  to  either  try  to  farm  or  have 
vegetable  gardens  and  all  would  starve.  Men 
do  not  have  to  build  houses  for  the  birds  nor 
feed  and  clothe  them.  Our  kind  Heavenly 
Father  sends  the  birds  and  provides  for  all 
their  needs  that  they  may  help  us  to  live.  Not 
only  are  all  dependent  upon  the  birds,  but  they 
constantly  fly  about  teaching  us  lessons  of  con- 
tentment. They  also  sing  so  that  God  is  glori- 
fied and  our  ears  are  made  glad.  Should  we 
not  daily  learn  lessons  from  these  teachers  God 


THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  TIGER  147 


has  everywhere  provided  for  us,  and  learn  to 
trust,  love,  and  honor  our  loving  Heavenly 
Father,  who  gives  us  every  blessing  we  enjoy.” 
He  then  tells  of  the  joy  and  peace  and  hope 
God  has  given  him  since  he  became  a Christian 
and  learned  to  love  and  trust  his  Savior  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  street  chapel  became  the  arena  for  ex- 
ercising the  gifts  of  the  students  in  the  Bible 
Training  classes  at  Chefoo.  Hunter  Corbett 
would  take  these  young  men  with  him  to  the 
room  near  the  main  street  where  the  people 
gathered  for  a preaching  service  of  twenty  or 
thirty  minutes  before  they  were  passed  into  the 
other  rooms  to  view  the  exhibits.  There  the 
young  men  were  trained  to  express  themselves 
clearly,  and  forcibly  set  forth  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  Word.  It  required  skill  to  be 
able  to  tell  the  Gospel  story  so  as  to  interest 
people  not  accustomed  to  listen  to  any  extended 
form  of  address,  and  the  young  man  who  had 
the  talent  for  putting  the  truth  forcibly  and 
illustrating  it  properly  here  was  sure  to  make  a 
success  elsewhere. 

When  Hunter  Corbett  preached  in  the  street 
chapel,  it  was  always  to  present  a skillfully  pre- 
pared message.  He  bound  himself  by  no  hard 
and  fast  rules,  and  avoided  repetition.  He 
studied  to  get  at  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  and 


148 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


this  gave  his  preaching  the  effect  of  continual 
freshness.  His  general  method  was  to  begin 
upon  the  truths  held  in  common  by  Christians 
and  Chinese,  as,  respect  for  parents.  He  then 
passed  on  to  other  subjects,  throwing  in  brief, 
pointed  questions  which  kept  even  the  dullest 
listeners  awake.  “What  is  most  important? 
Is  it  not  important  to  eat  and  drink?  Is  it  not 
more  important  to  be  good  ? A man  may  burn 
houses,  steal,  and  commit  murder,  and  have 
enough  to  eat  and  drink,  but  what  if  he  is  not 
good?  What  if  he  does  these  things  against 
his  father’s  wishes,  does  he  show  respect  for 
his  father?”  When  he  got  the  desired  ad- 
missions from  his  audience  he  proceeded. 
“There’s  a greater  Father  than  the  one  you 
know  in  your  home.  He  is  our  Heavenly 
Father.  He  sent  His  Son  here  to  die  for  us 
and  teach  us  how  to  live.  He  expects  some 
things  of  us,  and  that  is  why  I have  come  from 
America  to  tell  you  what  He  wants  of  you.” 
Then  he  proceeded  with  the  very  cream  of 
his  message.  After  this  service  the  people 
passed  into  the  other  buildings,  where  they 
were  shown  the  exhibits  by  the  dwarf  and 
other  attendants,  and  just  before  they  left  by 
the  door  on  the  other  street  they  were  gath- 
ered in  another  room  and  a final  word  of 
good  will  and  encouragement  was  spoken,  and 
any  having  a desire  to  know  more  of  the  doc- 


THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  TIGER  149 


trine  were  given  opportunity  to  receive  further 
instruction.  Thus  the  human  grist  was  ground 
through  the  Gospel  mill. 

/ In  the  years  since  its  founding,  more  than 
three  million  admissions  have  been  made  to  the 
chapel  and  museum.  These  are  nearly  all  dif- 
ferent auditors.  Chinese  sailors  come  and 
carry  back  word  to  their  friends  in  the  junks 
along  the  wharf.  Country  men  come  from 
their  districts  far  back  in  the  interior.  Every 
man  tells  another  of  the  wonderful  things  he 
has  seen  at  the  museum  and  the  welcome  he  has 
received  there,  and  so  the  tidings  spread  like 
the  message  in  a chain  letter.  It  breaks  down 
prejudice  against  the  foreigner  and  gives  the 
missionaries  favorable  approach  for  preaching 
in  the  interior.  Here  in  the  chapel  and  museum 
the  vast  floating  population  of  the  city  is  given 
something  interesting.  From  seventy-five  to 
one  hundred  thousand  persons  attend  annually. 
At  a certain  season  each  year  a day  is  ap- 
pointed when  only  the  women  are  admitted  to 
the  buildings.  Mothers,  wives,  and  daughters 
come  in  great  numbers  and  carry  back  a favor- 
able report  of  what  they  have  seen  and  heard. 
It  is  always  very  proper  in  China  for  a son  to 
attend  a place  his  mother  commends.  So  the 
museum  is  crowded  by  the  sons  of  many  house- 
holds following  the  days  when  women  have  the 
right  of  way.  The  lion’s  cage  is  the  center  of 


150 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


attraction,  but  the  two-headed  calf,  the  wild 
boar  and  the  monkeys  are  scarcely  less  inter- 
esting to  many,  but  best  of  all,  the  Gospel  seed 
is  freely  sown  by  the  preached  message  and  the 
printed  tract.  Moreover,  the  place  has  been 
made  a means  of  extending  friendships  which 
have  run  their  helpful  lines  in  every  direction 
through  the  province  and  so  paved  the  way  for 
the  advance  of  the  Kingdom. 

Here,  in  this  chapel,  a boy  who  afterwards 
became  an  evangelist  first  heard  the  truth 
which  led  him  to  seek  the  Lord.  Here  an 
old  woman  of  eighty  returned  after  a year, 
not  to  see  the  animals,  but  to  hear  more  about 
“that  Jesus  doctrine.”  Here  two  men*  one 
eighty-four  years  of  age  and  another  of 
seventy-four  years,  heard  the  truth  which  led 
them  to  an  acceptance  of  the  Savior.  Here  a 
man  of  eighty-six  was  led  to  embrace  the 
Christian  faith  and  continued  steadfast 
throughout  the  remaining  ten  years  of  his  life. 
Forty  years  previous  to  his  baptism  a religious 
tract  had  fallen  into  his  hands  and  changed 
the  current  of  his  life  and  led  to  his  final  act 
of  consecration.  Here,  instances  of  the  Gos- 
pel’s leavening  power  might  be  chronicled  for 
many  pages,  and  wisdom  justified  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  tiger. 


XV 


FRUIT  OF  MANY  LABORS 

“W  7HAT  are  the  returns?”  is  the 
\/ \/  question  asked  of  every  modem 
business  enterprise.  In  mission- 
ary concerns  the  same  question  has  a like  just 
claim  to  an  honest  reply.  Although  complete 
revelations  are  reserved  for  the  final  judg- 
ment on  high,  God  has  here  given  partial 
answers  for  the  encouragement  of  the  church 
militant. 

The  year  1865  found  the  Presbyterian  work 
in  the  East  Shantung  province  in  an  extremely 
discouraging  condition.  The  hostility  of  the 
natives  at  Chefoo  had  apparently  triumphed. 
Most  of  the  workers  upon  the  ground  had  de- 
cided to  abandon  the  field  for  another  of 
greater  promise.  A letter  from  the  New  York 
Board  had  come  into  the  hands  of  Hunter  Cor- 
bett at  the  haunted  house,  intimating  the  wis- 
dom of  a change  of  field,  but  leaving  him  free 
to  join  Dr.  Martin  in  the  work  at  Peking,  or 
remain.  Dr.  McCartee  was  returning  to 
Ningpo.  The  only  asset  left  was  the  convic- 
tion in  Hunter  Corbett’s  mind  expressed  in  un- 
151 


152 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


written  language,  “Here  at  Chefoo  lies  your 
field,  now  make  the  most  of  it.”  Like  Paul, 
he  was  not  disobedient  unto  the  heavenly 
vision,  so  to  Chefoo  he  came  and  occupied  the 
dismal  little  home  in  the  marshes.  With  harm- 
less yet  persevering  guile  he  set  up  his  portable 
chapel  in  the  temple  court,  and  with  money 
borrowed  from  his  father,  in  the  Foreign 
Board’s  inability  to  provide  him  a suitable 
house,  he  purchased  the  ground  and  built  on 
the  hilltop  overlooking  the  harbor.  It  was  an 
humble  and  unpretentious  beginning,  but  it  was 
the  start  of  a determined  man  of  faith.  The 
little  house  with  which  he  squatted  upon  the 
temple  grounds  in  Chefoo  was  probably  not 
valued  at  more  than  twenty-five  or  thirty  dol- 
lars. To-day  the  Presbyterian  Mission  holds 
property  in  Chefoo  worth  many  thousands  of 
dollars. 

For  fifty-six  years  Hunter  Corbett  and  his 
companions  in  toil  blazed  their  trails  across 
the  province  and  opened  up  new  fields  of  labor. 
Other  stations  were  established  and  assigned 
a share  of  the  territory,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to 
arrive  at  a correct  estimate  of  results.  The 
territory,  which  was  formerly  covered  by  the 
missionary  forces  at  Chefoo,  is  now  managed 
from  four  different  stations.  However,  it  may 
be  stated  that  the  establishing  of  stations  at 


FRUIT  OF  MANY  LABORS  153 


Wei  Hsien,  Tsing  Tau  and  Ichowfu  may  be 
fairly  credited  to  the  early  efforts  of  Hunter 
Corbett  and  his  co-laborers  at  these  points. 
Fourteen  churches  have  been  organized  as  the 
direct  result  of  his  labors.  In  1908,  when  he 
severed  relations  with  the  work  in  the  Chi  Mi 
district  to  devote  more  time  to  his  training 
classes  at  Chefoo,  there  were  808  adult  mem- 
bers in  the  seven  organizations  in  and  around 
Tsing  Tau,  each  congregation  having  its  own 
well-built  brick  church  with  tile  roof.  The 
work  in  the  Chi  Mi  district  lay  near  Tsing  Tau, 
and  he  therefore  recommended  that  its  super- 
vision be  transferred  to  that  station.  All  the 
fourteen  churches  thus  organized  by  Hunter 
Corbett  had  Christian  schools  operated  in  con- 
nection with  them.  The  same  is  true  for  the 
twenty  or  more  out-stations  now  conducted 
from  Chefoo.  Literally  scores  of  schools  were 
organized  by  him  and  maintained  with  success 
during  the  years  of  his  labor  in  the  province. 
Certain  of  these  were  continued  only  so  long 
as  there  was  actual  need  for  their  existence. 

Naturally  the  church  at  his  own  doorstep 
in  Chefoo  received  the  greatest  share  of  his 
time  and  attention.  It  is  a beautiful  stone 
building,  and  has  long  had  a membership  of 
over  300.  For  years  it  has  supported  its  own 
native  pastor,  a preacher  in  the  interior,  a Bible 


154 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


woman,  and  five  teachers  in  the  inland  schools. 
Many  of  its  members,  down  to  the  youngest 
among  them,  like  those  in  other  of  the  native 
Christian  churches,  were  contributing  a tenth 
of  their  income. 

To  Hunter  Corbett  figures  smacked  of  boast- 
ing, and  were  consequently  distasteful  to  him. 
Had  he  sought  to  juggle  with  numbers  rather 
than  deal  honestly  with  human  souls,  the  op- 
portunity was  unlimited.  Had  he  adopted 
methods  of  evangelization,  sometimes  em- 
ployed upon  mission  fields,  the  number  of  con- 
verts baptized  by  him  would  have  been  very 
much  larger.  With  him  the  fact  that  he  must 
render  an  account  in  the  day  of  Judgment  was 
uppermost,  and  records  padded  by  ingather- 
ings, which  were  false  and  farcical,  were  to  him 
an  abomination.  What  he  has  always  sought 
was  to  have  the  souls  of  his  Chinese  converts 
brought  into  such  vital  relation  with  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  that  they  were  indeed  new  crea- 
tures redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
That  he  was  sometimes  deceived  by  those  upon 
whom  he  bestowed  much  prayer  and  labor 
goes  without  the  saying ; nevertheless,  the  many 
hundreds  who  have  been  led  to  a consistent  pro- 
fession are  his  living  epistles  known  and  read 
of  men.  In  the  manner  in  which  many  of  them 
broke  with  the  opium  habit,  ancestral  worship, 


FRUIT  OF  MANY  LABORS  155 


and  the  whole  catalogue  of  nameless  heathen 
sins  is  to  be  found  the  record  of  results,  the 
fruit  of  many  labors. 

When  Hunter  Corbett  first  entered  the  prov- 
ince in  1864,  as  nearly  as  he  could  ascertain, 
there  were  not  more  than  twenty  native 
Christians  in  all  that  thickly  populated  region 
of  twenty-nine  or  thirty  millions  of  people,  and 
only  about  2000  in  all  China.  Before  his 
death,  the  roll  of  communicants  and  catechu- 
mens in  Shantung  alone  showed  32,478  names, 
and  throughout  the  entire  republic  there  were 
not  less  than  400,000  Christians. 

A reader  takes  up  the  82nd  Annual  Report 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  1919,  and 
reads  concerning  the  Equipment  of  the  Chefoo 
Station  that  the  list  includes 

Temple  Hill  English  School;  Graded  High 
School  and  Normal  Academy;  Girls’  High 
School;  Men’s  Bible  Training  School; 
Women’s  Bible  Training  School;  School  for 
the  Deaf;  36  Day  Schools,  including  one 
Kindergarten;  Temple  Hill  Hospital;  10 
Churches. 

Comparing  this  list  with  the  statistical  table 
of  the  Shantung  mission  we  see  that  the 
Chefoo  Station  is  further  credited  with 


156 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Thirty  Out-stations;  20  American  Mission- 
aries; 1 16  Native  Helpers;  40  Churches  and 
Groups;  4 Self-supporting  Churches;  1,395 
Communicants;  190  added  during  year;  1,667 
Catechumens  and  adherents;  2,283  Field  Con- 
tributions for  Church  Expenses  and  Missions; 
848  S.  S.  Members;  40  Schools;  1,166  Pupils 
in  Schools;  1 Hospital;  361  In-patients;  1 Dis- 
pensary; 14,171  Out-patient  Visits. 


With  certain  of  these  items  and  results, 
Hunter  Corbett  has  had  nothing  directly  to  do 
beyond  giving  them  his  moral  support,  but 
with  others  he  has  been  so  closely  identified 
that  it  is  impossible  to  disassociate  his  name 
from  their  past  history  and  present  develop- 
ment. 

Nor  were  his  efforts  confined  to  the  insti- 
tutions under  the  control  of  the  church  which 
he  served.  Many  other  laudable  undertakings 
in  Chefoo  and  elsewhere  received  encourage- 
ment from  his  counsels  and  personal  endeavors 
in  their  behalf.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the 
New  Missionary  Home  at  Chefoo,  which, 
through  the  united  efforts  of  Mr.  John  A. 
Stook  and  Hunter  Corbett  and  their  associates, 
was  successfully  launched  in  the  spring  of 
1906.  Its  purpose  was  to  provide  a rest  center 
for  missionaries  who  came  north  each  summer 
from  the  crowded  cities  of  the  coast  and  from 


FRUIT  OF  MANY  LABORS  157 

i 

their  isolated  inland  posts.  Hundreds  have 
thus  come  to  these  comfortable  quarters  and 
many  of  them  saved  from  serious  breakdown 
in  health  and  enabled  to  return  to  their  fields 
of  labor  with  bodies  strengthened  and  spirits 
refreshed. 

Neither  should  the  service  rendered  by 
Hunter  Corbett  to  the  Foreign  Mission  cause 
in  the  churches  of  America  be  overlooked  in 
making  an  estimate  of  results.  Few  speakers 
could  inspire  and  convince  better  than  he  when 
he  addressed  congregations  in  the  homeland. 
Beginning  this  line  of  public  service  while  at 
home  on  his  first  furlough  at  a time  when  the 
ignorance  of  conditions  abroad  was  appalling 
and  the  indifference  still  more  distressing  he 
went  at  his  own  charges  among  the  churches 
to  tell  them  of  the  facts  as  they  were  to  be 
faced  in  China.  He  lived  to  see  a time  when 
a knowledge  of  missions  was  more  universal 
and  the  interest  correspondingly  great  and  the 
announcement  that  he  would  speak  a guarantee 
that  the  church  would  be  filled. 


XVI 


CROWN  JEWELS 

THE  pages  of  Hunter  Corbett’s  Journals 
disclose  conditions  at  once  pathetic  and 
inspiring.  The  spiritual  declensions  and 
disappointments  which  attended  the  history  of 
the  founding  of  the  little  church  at  Chefoo  and 
the  extension  of  the  work  through  the  province, 
at  times,  brought  untold  suffering  to  the  heart 
of  the  missionary.  Realizing  the  depths  of  the 
heathen  pit  from  which  the  professed  converts 
had  been  drawn,  knowing  their  weaknesses 
and  struggles,  and  loving  them  as  with  a 
father’s  compassion,  the  cry  of  agony  was 
wrung  from  him  again  and  again  as  he  saw 
those  for  whom  he  had  labored  and  prayed 
rush  back  to  the  mouth  of  the  pit  and  leap 
down  into  their  old  sins  and  heathen  customs. 
Those  were  the  occasions  when,  bruised  and 
broken,  he  retired  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Almighty  and  poured  out  his  spirit  unto  God 
and  refreshed  himself  anew  with  the  promises 
of  the  Word.  The  pathos  and  loneliness  of 
his  situation  in  the  heart  of  heathenism,  while 
contending  against  the  powers  of  darkness, 
158 


CROWN  JEWELS 


159 


make  the  record  of  these  early  labors  at  times 
one  of  sadness  and  depression. 

The  outnumbering  triumphs  of  grace  were 
the  gladdening  compensations  which  refreshed 
his  heart,  and  of  these  faithful  followers  he 
could  say  with  Paul,  “Ye  are  our  glory  and 
joy.”  They  endured  affliction  for  Christ’s 
sake  and  the  Gospel’s;  suffered  their  fields  to 
be  despoiled  by  their  persecutors  without  re- 
viling; underwent  scourgings  by  the  bamboo 
without  denying  their  Lord,  and  even  laid 
down  their  lives  as  a testimony  to  the  faith, 
that  their  Savior  might  be  glorified.  Scores 
of  them  witnessed  for  Christ  by  consistent  liv- 
ing and  in  the  hour  of  death  gave  evidence  of 
His  sustaining  power.  Hundreds  of  others  are 
still  living,  and  by  their  walk  and  conversation 
give  the  seal  of  sincerity  to  their  profession. 

Among  those  who  have  fallen  asleep  in 
Christ  is  Elder  Wang  Tse,  Hunter  Corbett’s 
first  convert.  When  the  missionary  had 
brokenly  told  the  story  of  the  cross  on  the 
streets  of  Lai  Yang  city,  and  gone  back  to 
the  inn  followed  by  the  crowd  intently  curious 
to  see  more  of  the  foreigner,  this  man  came 
with  the  inquiry,  “Can  you  not  tell  me  more 
of  the  doctrine  you  were  preaching  to-day?” 
He  was  given  a copy  of  Mark’s  Gospel,  in 
Chinese.  The  man  was  educated  and  per- 


160 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


fectly  capable  of  measuring  the  teachings  of 
the  book  in  his  hand  with  those  of  Confucius 
and  the  Chinese  sages.  He  stayed  up  all  the 
night  to  read  and  ponder  what  he  found  in  the 
little  book.  In  the  morning  he  came  into 
Hunter  Corbett’s  presence  and  said,  “How 
long  have  you  known  what  this  book  tells?” 
“It  has  been  known  for  a good  many 
centuries,”  Hunter  Corbett  replied.  “Why, 
then,”  continued  Wang  Tse,  “did  not  your 
people  bring  this  Gospel  to  us  sooner?  My 
ancestors  have  had  to  die  without  it.”  A ques- 
tion and  an  observation  leaving  an  impression 
from  which  Hunter  Corbett  never  escaped. 

Later  the  inquirer  followed  the  missionary 
to  his  home,  and  with  the  keenness  of  a hawk, 
watched  to  discover  whether  he  practiced  what 
he  preached.  Soon  the  light  came  to  his  soul, 
and  like  the  fishermen  on  the  Galilean  shore, 
he  forsook  all  and  followed  Christ.  He  had 
expected  to  find  the  missionary  beating  his 
wife,  reviling  opposers,  and  promising  one 
thing  and  doing  another — occurrences  com- 
mon enough  among  the  Chinese;  but  not  find- 
ing such  conditions,  he  became  an  imitator  in 
spirit  and  practice.  The  change  was  noted  in 
the  new  convert’s  home.  His  wife  at  first 
thought  he  was  crazy,  but  his  patience  and 
kindness  won  the  day  and  soon  she,  too,  came 
to  the  missionary  and  said,  “ If  this  is  what 


CROWN  JEWELS 


161 


your  religion  does  in  the  home,  it  cannot  be 
the  evil  thing  men  say  it  is,  and  I want  to 
share  in  it,  too.”  Mr.  Wang  was  elected  an 
elder  when  the  church  was  organized  at  Chefoo 
in  1866,  and  became  an  able  and  successful 
preacher,  traveled  with  Hunter  Corbett  on  long 
itineraries  and  continued  faithful  until  his 
death. 

Lin  Shu  Tong  was  another  crown  jewel. 
He  had  long  been  an  opium  smoker.  His  sins 
were  hastening  the  night  of  death,  but  one  day 
he  heard  the  Gospel  story  from  Hunter  Cor- 
bett’s lips.  Hope  was  kindled  in  his  heart,  and 
he  prayed  day  and  night  for  pardon  and  the 
power  to  break  with  his  habit;  both  were  given 
and  he  never  smoked  again.  He  became  a sin- 
cere Christian,  and  for  twenty  years  followed 
Hunter  Corbett  on  his  itineraries  and  did  the 
work  of  a peacemaker.  He  was  calm  and 
gentle  in  disposition,  and  whenever  he  found 
converts  at  variance  he  sought  out  the  disput- 
ants, singly  and  patiently  went  over  the  case, 
then  when  he  had  heard  all,  he  would  say, 
“Now  granting  that  it  is  just  as  you  have  de- 
scribed it,  is  it  not  the  better  way  to  do  as 
the  Lord  Jesus  would  do  and  forgive?”  He 
would  get  the  admission,  then  the  two  would 
pray  together,  and  he  scarcely  ever  parted  from 
the  one  with  whom  he  had  talked  till  he  had 
secured  the  promise  of  willingness  to  seek  an 


162 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


adjustment.  Going  then  to  the  other  convert 
or  converts  involved  in  the  quarrel,  he  would 
proceed  along  the  same  line,  and  thus  bring 
the  offenders  into  amicable  relations.  The  ut- 
most confidence  was  reposed  in  this  man  by 
those  who  knew  him  most  intimately.  When 
one  time  a new  missionary  arrived  in  Chefoo 
and  his  goods  were  left  in  Elder  Lin’s  hands, 
the  newcomer  expressed  some  fear  of  the  re- 
sult. Hunter  Corbett  quickly  replied,  “You 
need  have  no  anxiety.  That  is  one  of  God’s 
own  children.”  When  eighty-five  years  old, 
this  faithful  disciple  passed  on  to  be  with  his 
Lord. 

Yu  Shu  Fa  was  a young  school  teacher,  who, 
at  eighteen  years  of  age,  became  a Christian. 
He  went  out  into  the  new  districts  and  taught 
the  Word  with  the  glowing  earnestness  of  an 
Appollos.  The  reviling  with  which  men 
greeted  him  did  not  lessen  his  ardor.  They 
would  neither  hear  nor  let  others  listen.  They 
would  shout  that  the  Bible  was  a foreigner’s 
book,  and  Jesus  a foreign  teacher,  and  that  the 
Chinese  should  not  regard  them.  Despite  all 
opposition,  however,  this  man  preached  the 
Gospel  from  village  to  village  for  thirty  years 
and  brought  only  joy  to  his  pastor’s  heart.  At 
one  time,  as  a result  of  his  efforts  in  winning 
souls,  four  persons  were  baptized,  aged  eighty, 
seventy-seven,  sixty-five  and  fifty-five,  respec- 


CROWN  JEWELS 


163 


tively.  At  another  time  ten  converts  were 
brought  into  the  church  through  his  labors.  In 
far  distant  fields  he  sowed  the  seed  which  in 
later  years  yielded  abundant  harvest. 

Associated  with  Mr.  Yu  was  another  earn- 
est disciple,  Yuen  Kong  Teh.  As  the  new 
fields  were  opened  in  the  outlying  districts,  he 
and  his  co-laborer  entered  with  the  message 
of  salvation,  and  despite  whatever  persecution 
arose  as  a result  of  their  preaching,  he  con- 
tinued faithful  as  a witness  bearer. 

Among  those  received  into  the  church  in 
1866  was  a brilliant  young  scholar  named 
Tsung  Yuin  Shing.  He  was  a fluent  speaker 
and  became  the  first  ordained  pastor  settled 
over  three  churches  in  the  part  of  China  where 
he  labored.  During  the  famine,  which  wasted 
that  district  in  1877,  he  yielded  to  temptation 
and  was  cut  off  from  the  church.  Later  he  was 
restored  to  membership,  but  not  to  the  min- 
istry. He  gave  evidence  of  his  fidelity,  how- 
ever, and  in  1900  he,  with  his  married  daughter 
and  several  grandchildren,  was  beheaded  by  the 
Boxers  in  Peking. 

When  about  thirty  years  of  age,  an  artist 
named  Li  She  Yuen  became  a Christian,  and 
until  his  death,  twenty  years  later,  did  an  ex- 
cellent work  in  many  villages  in  Shantung 
province.  He  went  from  place  to  place  dis- 
tributing books  and  tracts  and  telling  men  of 


164 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Jesus,  with  the  result  that  many  persons  were 
gathered  into  the  church. 

There  was  a carpenter  also,  Kin  Who  He, 
who  widely  circulated  the  message  of  salva- 
tion as  a preacher  of  righteousness.  He 
traveled  among  the  villages  repairing  gates, 
buckets  and  wheelbarrows,  and  was  most  earn- 
est in  preaching  “the  Jesus  doctrine.”  In  the 
evening,  when  the  people  gathered  in  little 
clusters  to  rest  on  the  streets,  he  would  tell 
them  Bible  stories  and  explain  the  belief  of 
the  Christians.  He  came  to  be  known  as  a 
most  earnest  teacher  of  the  Truth,  and  many 
persons  were  afraid  to  have  him  come  to  their 
village  lest  he  should  bewitch  the  people  and 
make  them  Christians.  In  his  own  village, 
largely  as  the  result  of  his  teaching  and  con- 
sistent living,  a church  of  more  than  one  hun- 
dred members  was  organized.  He  was  elected 
one  of  the  elders  there  and  remained  faithful 
until  his  death.  A few  moments  before  he 
passed  away,  one  of  his  three  sons,  who  was 
standing  near  his  bed,  bent  over  him  and  asked 
what  message  he  had  for  them.  He  replied, 
(“Only  love  Jesus  and  serve  Him  faithfully 
until  death,  and  all  will  be  well.” 

Ding  Ke  Yuen,  an  uncle  of  the  noted 
Chinese  Evangelist  Ding  Le  Mei,  accepted 
Christ  and  united  with  the  church  when  about 


CROWN  JEWELS 


165 


fifty  years  of  age.  A few  years  previous,  his 
father,  then  almost  eighty,  had  become  a mem- 
ber. His  entire  family  was  led  into  active 
Christian  service.  Ding  Ke  Yuen  represented 
his  family  as  an  official.  With  the  organizing 
of  the  church  in  his  home  village,  more  than 
thirty-five  years  ago,  he  was  elected  an  elder, 
and  his  last  years  were  spent  in  preaching 
through  an  extended  section  of  the  province. 
His  favorite  method  was  to  go  among  the 
schools  and  talk  with  the  teachers.  He  was  a 
scholarly  man,  and  having  once  been  a school 
teacher  himself,  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  Chinese  classics,  and  could  readily 
adapt  himself  to  the  conditions  of  the  school- 
room and  the  ability  of  his  fellow-teachers. 
He  was  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
Scriptures,  and  this  enabled  him  to  contrast 
the  truths  and  teachings  of  the  Word  with 
those  of  the  Chinese  sages,  and  show  the 
superiority  of  the  Bible  and  the  imperative  need 
of  Jesus  coming  into  the  world  to  teach  the 
truth,  to  die  for  sinners,  and  to  save  all  who 
would  come  unto  God  through  Him.  As 
though  they  were  monuments  to  this  man’s 
efficient  work,  there  is  in  his  home  village  a 
self-supporting  church,  a girls’  school  of  more 
than  sixty  young  women,  and  also  a boys’ 
school. 


166 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Forty-five  li  to  the  south  of  Wei  Hsien 
lived  an  old  saint,  Wong  Hiong  Shang. 
Nearly  fifty  years  ago  Hunter  Corbett  heard 
of  this  man,  a farmer,  who  had  a reputation 
for  doing  many  good  works.  The  missionary 
sent  a native  preacher  to  see  him  and  give  him 
books  and  tracts  to  read,  and  invite  him  to 
come  to  Chefoo  and  spend  the  winter  there  in 
the  Bible  and  Inquiry  class.  He  accepted  the 
invitation  and  soon  became  a most  earnest 
Christian.  Later,  after  enduring  much  perse- 
cution, his  two  sons  also  were  persuaded  to 
come  to  the  Chefoo  school.  They  were  soon 
advanced  to  the  College  at  Tengchow,  where 
both  were  graduated.  One  son  became  a 
teacher  in  the  University  at  Peking,  and  nar- 
rowly escaped  with  his  life  at  the  time  of  the 
Boxer  uprising  in  1900,  but  died  soon  after. 
The  other  is  Rev.  Wang  Chang  Tai,  formerly 
the  able  pastor  of  the  Chefoo  church,  whose 
sterling  qualities  have  won  for  him  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  the  entire  missionary  force 
in  East  Shantung.  The  father  spent  most  of 
his  time  going  at  his  own  expense  among  the 
villages  telling  men  of  the  Savior.  In  his  own 
village  the  Christians  had  a church  and  school, 
and  among  his  people  this  aged  disciple  ex- 
erted a most  benign  influence. 

Chao  Pei  Leu,  the  leader  of  a sect  known 


CROWN  JEWELS 


167 


as  Wu  Ming  Kiao  (the  nameless  sect),  ac- 
cepted Christ  near  Chefoo  many  years  ago. 
Before  becoming  a Christian,  Mr.  Chao  used 
to  meet  with  others  of  the  sect  in  the  homes 
of  the  members  and  repeat  phrases  they  had 
been  taught,  meditate  upon  them  and  exhort 
one  another  to  do  good  and  abstain  from  all 
wrong.  These  actions  were  misconstrued  by 
certain  officials,  and  he  and  his  elder  brother 
were  arrested  upon  the  charge  of  meeting 
secretly  to  plot  against  the  government.  The 
brother  was  tortured,  and  although  confessing 
to  no  evil-doing,  he  was  banished  for  life  to  a 
district  three  thousand  li  to  the  north,  and  his 
family  never  again  heard  from  him.  Mr. 
Chao  also1  suffered  severe  tortures  and  was 
imprisoned  three  years,  but  through  all  this 
persecution  he  remained  true,  and  would 
neither  confess  to  wrong-doing  nor  reveal  the 
names  of  the  leaders  or  members  of  the  sect. 
The  officials  failed  to  secure  any  incriminating 
evidence  against  him,  and  he  was  at  last  re- 
leased and  permitted  to  return  home.  His  fol- 
lowers received  him  with  great  joy  and  feast- 
ing. Shortly  after  his  return  he  heard  the 
Gospel  for  the  first  time.  The  Lord  opened 
his  heart  to  believe  and  make  profession  of  his 
faith.  He  became  an  enthusiastic  witness  to 
the  truth  and  went  among  his  friends  to  tell 


168 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


them  of  the  Savior  he  had  found  and  persuade 
them  to  believe  also.  The  fact  that  he  him- 
self had  been  true  to  the  members  of  his  sect 
throughout  his  tortures  and  imprisonment  gave 
him  great  influence  among  his  people,  and 
many  of  them  were  led  by  him  to  an  accept- 
ance of  the  Savior.  It  was  largely  through  this 
man’s  efforts  that  Hunter  Corbett  was  led  to 
undertake  the  rich  soul-winning  campaign  in 
the  Chi  Mi  district  in  1873,  at  which  time  more 
than  one  hundred  persons  were  added  to  the 
church. 

One  evening,  years  ago,  a poor  widow  and 
her  ragged  eight-year-old  boy  came  to  the  gate 
of  the  mission  compound  at  Chefoo.  They  had 
been  directed  there  by  a soldier,  who  told  them 
that  a man  lived  at  that  place  who  was  kind 
to  widows  and  orphans.  They  wanted  to  find 
some  means  by  which  to  earn  their  living.  A 
place  was  secured  for  the  mother  in  the  home 
of  a British  merchant.  She  proved  very  effi- 
cient and  faithful,  and  was  held  in  high  esteem 
by  the  family.  A't  the  risk  of  her  life,  while 
the  house  was  one  day  in  flames,  she  rescued 
a bride  and  groom,  who,  without  her  help, 
would  certainly  have  perished  in  the  flames. 
For  this  deed  a much-prized  gold  medal  was 
given  her.  The  boy,  Lui  Shu  San,  was 
worthy  of  such  a mother.  He  was  received 


CROWN  JEWELS 


169 


into  the  Chefoo  school,  and  proved  himself 
to  be  a good  student,  and  later  was  graduated 
with  honor  from  college  and  completed  half 
the  theological  course,  when,  on  account  of 
failing  health,  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  in- 
door study  and  enter  upon  work  which  kept 
him  in  the  open.  When  the  Germans  estab- 
lished the  port  of  Tsing  Tau,  he  moved  to  that 
city  where  he  has  been  deservedly  successful 
in  business.  Before  the  Great  War  he  owned 
property  worth  probably  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  was  interested  in  many  benevolent 
works.  As  soon  as  he  was  able,  he  paid  to 
the  mission  the  principal  and  interest  on  the 
money  which  had  been  spent  in  his  education. 
When  the  new  church  at  Chefoo  was  built  he 
sent  a check  for  five  hundred  dollars  for  the 
building  and  another  for  fifty  dollars  for  the 
pastor’s  salary.  At  Tsing  Tau  he  took  the 
lead  in  building  a new  church  and  making  the 
organization  independent  in  the  support  of  its 
pastor.  He  is  also  one  of  the  liberal  supporters 
of  the  local  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  an  ardent  worker 
in  the  Association  as  well.  He  has  done  much 
to  aid  his  kindred  and  friends  in  securing  edu- 
cation for  their  children  and  in  helping  the 
destitute.  His  character  bears  the  stamp  of 
consistency,  for  he  and  his  family  are  widely 
known  for  their  liberality  and  just  dealing. 


XVII 


THE  HEARTH  STONE 

MANY  congregations  in  America  have 
heard  Hunter  Corbett  deliver  his 
forceful  addresses  and  instinctively 
recognized  in  him  a man  of  purpose  and 
prayer,  large  in  the  faith  of  what  God  was 
doing  for  China  through  the  church.  Those 
who  met  him  at  closer  range  found  him  the 
soul  of  optimism  and  friendliness  and  his  con- 
versation interesting  and  edifying.  In  their 
homes  he  was  courteous  and  kind  from  the 
head  of  the  family  to  the  youngest  child,  and 
also  to  the  servant  of  the  household.  For  the 
little  ones,  his  pockets  were  as  full  of  wonders 
as  those  of  a school  boy,  and  from  their  depths 
he  fished  out  guardian  angels,  pictures,  foreign 
postage  stamps,  Chinese  cash,  toys,  and  gew- 
gaws galore  to  the  delight  of  young  America. 
On  his  furlough  journeys  he  probably  became 
intimately  acquainted  on  board  the  steamers 
with  more  persons  than  any  one  else  on  the 
ship.  It  was  the  same  when  he  crossed  the 
continent  on  his  railway  travels,  and  it  was  a 
hard-shelled  recluse  through  whose  armor  his 
170 


THE  HEARTH  STONE 


171 


friendliness  and  interest  did  not  penetrate. 
When  he  went  upon  his  itineraries,  it  was  with 
the  swing  of  tireless  energy,  friendly  in  man- 
ner, cheery  in  voice  and  patient  under  the  vex- 
ations of  inconvenient  and  interrupted  travel,. 

However,  a man  may  be  all  these  in  the  role 
of  traveler,  visitor  and  public  speaker,  and  yet 
be  an  unpleasant  member  of  the  home  circle. 
This  was  never  true  of  Hunter  Corbett.  If 
he  appeared  to  good  advantage  before  the  pub- 
lic, it  was  to  still  better  advantage  to  those  who 
knew  him  best  at  the  hearthstone.  “Even  a 
man’s  cat  ought  to  know  he  is  a Christian,” 
he  often  said.  And  his  did.  Not  that  he  took 
the  cat  into  confidential  relations  and  gave  it 
theological  dissertations  on  the  duty  of  loving 
one  another,  but  by  the  practical  demonstration 
of  being  kind  to  it  as  to  all  else. 

“He  prayeth  well  who  loveth  well 
Both  man  and  bird  and  beast.” 

Hunter  Corbett  had  many  arenas  for  the 
exercise  of  his  energies.  His  study  was  one 
of  these.  Here  long  hours  of  unsparing  toil 
were  spent.  Here  his  Bible  training  classes 
were  started.  Here  the  little  assemblies  of  be- 
lievers first  gathered  to  hear  the  Word 
preached.  Here,  too,  came  the  inquirers  to  be 


172 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  Kingdom. 
Here,  also,  the  native  preachers  were  given 
their  parting  injunctions  as  they  left  upon  their 
missions  into  the  villages  of  the  province,  and 
here,  too,  innumerable  conferences  and  prayer 
for  the  enlargement  and  development  of  the 
station  work  were  held.  It  was  always  a busy 
spot,  where  every  minute  was  held  at  a 
premium.  Another  sphere  of  strenuous  action 
was  the  place  of  his  preaching,  whether  it  was 
in  the  pulpit  of  the  little  church  close  by,  on 
the  platform  in  the  street  chapel,  in  the  ap- 
pointed meeting  places  at  the  out-stations,  in 
the  inn-yards  where  he  lodged  for  the  night 
upon  his  itineraries,  or  at  the  market  places 
of  the  villages  he  visited.  From  one  point  to 
another  he  moved  in  the  Master’s  work  with 
the  ceaseless  swing  of  the  pendulum. 

Apart  from  his  sleeping  hours,  there  was 
but  one  spot  where  he  appeared  as  if  released 
from  the  pressure  of  work.  This  was  in  the 
privacy  of  his  own  family  circle.  He  came 
to  his  seat  at  the  table,  bringing  the  cheery 
bits  of  news  gleaned  from  letters  received 
through  the  mail  or  gathered  from  the  workers 
of  the  station  as  they  came  to  consult  him 
during  the  day.  Fie  re-inforced  such  conversa- 
tion with  the  recital  of  events  which  had  oc- 
curred in  former  days,  and  with  observations 


THE  HEARTH  STONE 


173 


gathered  from  newspapers  and  magazines  and 
men  of  note  with  whom  he  had  come  in  con- 
tact. A remarkably  tenacious  memory  had 
catalogued  his  facts,  and  he  brought  them  from 
their  mental  pigeon  holes  without  an  effort. 
He  added  the  spice  of  many  good  stories  to 
the  daily  bill  of  fare,  and  the  seasoning  of  a 
marvelous  charity  accompanied  all  his  personal 
remarks  and  expressed  opinions.  The  table 
was  a cheerful  place  in  the  Corbett  home. 

There  was  always  sunshine  by  the  fireside, 
too,  where  he  had  his  favorite  seat.  This  was 
the  throne  of  the  hearthstone.  Through  the 
busy  years  of  strenuous  toil  he  kept  the  path 
to  his  heart  open  and  the  line  of  intimate  re- 
lation established  so  that  wife  and  children 
could  always  approach  without  fear  of  rebuff. 
The  path  led  to  a particular  chair  where  the 
occupant  was  seated  when  at  home  for  a little 
time  after  the  noon  meal  and  during  the  eve- 
ning hours.  Here  amid  his  reading  he  seemed 
to  know  intuitively  all  that  took  place  about 
him.  Here  and  at  the  mother’s  chair  the  con- 
fidences of  the  family  centered,  and  the  letters 
were  read  from  the  widely  separated  members 
of  the  household.  And  here  each  day  they 
were  remembered  by  name  at  the  throne  of 
grace,  for  family  prayers  were  observed  night 
and  morning  in  this  home.  On  Sabbath  morn- 


174 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


ing  in  the  summer  time  and  during  the  evening 
of  that  day  in  the  winter  months,  a chapter  of 
the  Bible  was  regularly  studied  and  commented 
upon,  followed  by  the  reciting  of  a part  of  the 
Westminster  Shorter  Catechism. 

Nine  children  have  grown  to  maturity  in  this 
circle,  two  others  are  sleeping  in  the  foreign 
cemetery  just  across  the  street  from  the  mis- 
sion compound,  and  a third,  a boy  of  fifteen, 
lies  beside  his  grandparents  in  the  little  grave- 
yard at  Leatherwood,  Pa.  There  have  been 
sorrows  which  have  thrown  their  shadow 
across  the  hearthstone  in  the  Corbett  home, 
but  these  were  never  allowed  to  consume  the 
energies  of  the  living.  Although  the  afflictions 
were  keenly  felt,  the  promised  grace  was  sup- 
plied by  which  the  heart  could  say,  “Even  so, 
Father;  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  Thy  sight.” 
Hunter  Corbett  has  taught  both  Chinese  and 
foreigners,  and  chiefly  them  of  his  own  house- 
hold, the  ground  of  confidence  secured 
through  the  hope  that  maketh  not  ashamed. 

In  the  midst  of  busy  days  on  his  itineraries, 
hundreds  of  li  back  in  the  interior  in  past  years, 
he  could  find  time  to  send  letters  to  each  of  his 
little  children  and  adapt  his  message  to  their 
limited  understanding.  The  kindness  of  the 
man  is  interwoven  with  every  line  of  these  let- 
ters, and  in  them  he  has  sketched  the  pictures 


THE  HEARTH  STONE  175 

of  birds,  fishes  and  animals,  and  drawn  lessons 
from  them  that  even  the  youngest  can  under- 
stand. A birthday  was  never  forgotten  in  this 
home,  and  to  the  last  he  followed  the  custom 
of  writing  a personal  letter  on  the  birthday  of 
each  child,  and  one  to  all  of  them  on  his  own 
natal  day,  December  8th.  The  Journals  tell, 
too,  how  constantly  his  hearthstone  circle  was 
in  his  thought  and  prayers,  how  great  the  joy 
of  the  return  from  the  itinerary,  and  how  heart- 
felt the  thanksgiving  for  the  mercies  of  God 
upon  his  home  and  loved  ones.  In  the  pages 
of  these  records  there  are  frequent  written 
prayers  which,  in  the  sweep  of  their  affections, 
take  up  each  member  of  the  household  and 
bear  them  to  the  mercy  seat.  Then,  too,  among 
the  records  relating  to  the  advancement  of  his 
work,  and  in  the  scrap  books  containing 
numerous  articles  and  items  pertaining  to  the 
welfare  of  China,  are  found  his  children’s 
notes  to  him,  their  class-room  exercises  and 
compositions,  their  grade  cards,  and  the  pro- 
grams of  entertainments  in  which  they  figured. 
The  fiber  of  the  busy  man’s  work  was  strength- 
ened by  the  tenderness  of  family  affection. 

While  working  untiringly  in  the  interests  of 
the  Chinese  and  giving  them  large  measures 
of  his  love  and  time,  Hunter  Corbett  did  not 
neglect  the  members  of  his  own  household. 


176 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


For  each  one  ample  provision  was  made  for 
the  development  of  individual  talent.  Lib- 
erally educated  himself,  he  recognized  the  value 
of  trained  intellect,  and  after  the  preparation 
had  been  made  in  the  home  and  the  excellent 
schools  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  there  was 
added  for  the  training  of  his  children  the  in- 
structions of  American  institutions.  With 
keen  interest  and  unceasing  love,  he  followed 
the  careers  of  his  children  through  the  passing 
years.  The  volume  of  his  correspondence  with 
each  son  and  daughter  was  considerable  in  the 
course  of  a year.  He  followed  the  work  of 
each  of  his  children  and  the  progress  of  his 
grandchildren  in  home  and  school  with  a sym- 
pathy and  interest  which  were  truly  remark- 
able in  the  pressure  of  consuming  duties.  The 
last  child  of  the  Corbett  home  at  Chefoo  has 
now  gone  out  from  the  parental  hearth  to  build 
upon  independent  foundations,  but  the  lessons 
of  a wholesome  religion  learned  there  will 
abide  with  succeeding  generations. 


XVIII 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  MESSAGE 

IN  Hunter  Corbett  men  saw  friendliness, 
cheerfulness,  courtesy,  and  diligence  of  no 
mean  order,  but  these  were  merely  the 
externals  of  his  character.  To-  know  what 
reaches  of  soul  lay  back  of  them  one  must 
have  traveled  with  him  over  the  weary  stretches 
of  distance  to  the  ring  of  out-stations,  learned 
his  habits,  known  his  longings,  measured  his 
labors,  lived  in  his  home,  heard  him  pray,  read 
his  letters,  followed  him  through  his  journals, 
glimpsed  his  faith,  and  experienced  his  love. 
So  many  graces  of  character  were  developed 
in  him  that  an  analysis  is  similar  to  reducing 
a composite  photograph  to  the  numerous  sub- 
jects entering  into  its  makeup. 

In  appearance  he  was  extremely  patriarchal 
during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  ministry. 
The  long  flowing  beard,  which  was  the  crown- 
ing glory  of  his  physical  manhood  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Chinese,  aided  in  heightening  the  im- 
pression., Sprung  from  an  ancestry  tall  and 
angular,  he  developed  the  figure  peculiar  to  the 
family.  He  possessed  a head  of  intellectual 
177 


178 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


cast,  features  rough  hewn  and  determined,  and 
a countenance  in  which  dark  expressive  eyes 
reflected  the  flow  of  genial,  energetic  thought 
within.  Animated  by  the  intensity  of  his 
message,  face  and  figure  would  catch  the  en- 
thusiasm of  his  theme  and  swing  into  line  with 
the  appeal  of  his  voice  in  eloquent  harmony. 
The  earnestness  of  a Titan  characterized  his 
public  addresses, — the  same  ardor,  which,  in 
other  form,  enabled  him  to  outclass  his  com- 
panions in  the  wearying  journeys  through  the 
province.  “If  you  want  to  take  notes  there 
is  no  way  to  record  them  from  outline,  but 
you’ll  not  forget  what  he  says  in  a whole  life 
time,”  is  the  way  in  which  a hearer  once  de- 
scribed his  impressions. 

Hunter  Corbett’s  mental  machinery  worked 
well.  He  studied  hard  during  his  entire  school 
life,  and  kept  it  up  till  life’s  school  was  out. 
His  every  public  address  was  prepared  just 
as  carefully  as  the  limits  of  other  duties  would 
permit.  Nature’s  bequest  of  a good  memory 
was  held  as  a trust,  and  like  the  pound  of  the 
parable  which  gained  ten  other  pounds,  it 
brought  its  own  reward.  It  was  little  short 
of  the  marvelous  how  his  mind  retained  dates, 
events,  names,  and  details,  and  brought  them 
forth,  as  occasion  required,  with  the  readiness 
of  the  birds  at  the  call  of  their  keeper.  He 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  MESSAGE  179 


kept  abreast  of  the  times  by  a careful  reading 
of  the  news  of  the  day,  the  best  of  which  he 
circumspectly  winnowed  and  remembered.  As 
his  labors  and  means  permitted  he  secured  and 
read  the  most  authoritative  modern  books  as 
they  issued  from  the  press.  Pre-eminently  he 
was  a man  of  the  One  Book,  which  he  found 
best  met  his  own  needs  as  well  as  those  to 
whom  he  ministered.  The  precepts  and 
promises  of  well-nigh  every  page  of  this  Book 
have  been  compared  with  the  writings  of  the 
sages,  and  just  as  they  have  been  tested  and 
found  to  be  of  more  excellent  worth,  he  has 
given  them  the  supreme  place  in  his  study  and 
life.  It  is  the  prayerful  assimilation  of  these 
truths  which  has  operated  most  mightily  to- 
ward making  Hunter  Corbett  what  he  was  as 
a man  of  faith,  friendliness,  humility,  courage, 
courtesy,  and  love. 

That  he  was  a man  of  faith  is  attested  by 
the  manner  he  began  and  built  up  the  work  in 
Chefoo  and  throughout  the  Shantung  prov- 
ince. Without  a convert  and  without  build- 
ings he  began.  The  condition  was  something 
vastly  more  than  indifference.  It  was  hostility 
wherein  civility  was  answered  with  gruffness, 
and  altruistic  effort  by  reviling.  Looking  back 
upon  those  first  labors  of  love  he  often  said, 
“China  was  a great  mountain  of  marble,  and 


180 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


I had  nothing  to  break  it  down  but  a little 
hammer.”  Yet  as  he  cut  the  steps  by  which 
other  generations  of  workers  and  converts 
were  to  follow,  it  was  to  make  them  broad  and 
lasting  as  a highway  for  his  God.  If  it  were 
to  build  a church  in  the  early  day,  it  was  to 
provide  a belfry,  believing  that  the  needed  bell 
would  some  day  be  provided,  as  it  was.  If  it 
were  to  erect  a new  church,  it  was  to  build 
the  base  for  the  steeple,  which,  after  many 
waiting  days,  was  erected.  If  it  were  to  train 
a class  of  preachers,  it  was  also  to  send  them 
out  at  his  own  expense,  confident  that  the 
means  to  support  them  would  somehow  be 
forthcoming,  and  his  faith  was  not  disap- 
pointed. 

His  friendliness  was  a part  of  him.  Re- 
served manners  speedily  broke  in  contact  with 
it,  and  before  they  were  aware  of  it,  strangers 
were  drawn  to  the  man  and  interested  in  him. 
Dean  Bosworth  has  stated  that  the  whole  art 
of  living  consists  in  being  friendly.  If  behind 
the  art  there  be  the  clean  heart  and  the  right 
spirit  the  life  is  indeed  a triumph  of  success. 
Hunter  Corbett  had  this  art  as  well  as  the  sub- 
stance which  made  for  happy  living.  In  his 
contact  with  others,  from  whatever  angle  one 
may  choose  to  observe,  he  was  seen  to  be  a man 
of  contagious  friendliness.  The  Chinese  were 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  MESSAGE  181 


quick  to  recognize  this,  and  readily  responded 
to  his  approaches.  In  the  market  places,  in  the 
inns,  and  among  the  groups  of  men  he  found 
along  the  streets  and  highways,  his  cheery 
greeting  invariably  called  forth  a friendly  re- 
sponse. Like  a busy  shuttle  in  his  passage 
through  the  villages,  his  interest  touched  many 
lives,  from  the  little  child  whose  burden  he 
sometimes  carried,  to  the  old  native  who  was 
given  a happy  word  of  recognition. 

And  while  he  was  the  soul  of  friendliness  to 
the  common  people  who  thronged  about  his 
path  daily,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  the  pro- 
prieties of  custom  and  etiquette  which  the 
wealthy  and  influential  practiced.  He  cour- 
teously sank  his  own  opinions  and  preferences 
and  graciously  submitted  to  the  exactions  of 
a foreign  people’s  love  of  red  tape,  and  so 
avoided  doing  violence  to  the  feelings  of  those 
whom  he  desired  to  approach  and  win.  When 
he  traveled  by  steamer  or  railway  coach  his 
passage  was  marked  by  a continuous  series  of 
little  kindnesses — stories  which  made  tired 
travelers  forget  the  weariness  of  their  journey, 
— tea,  which  he  brewed  with  skill  from  some 
choice  brand  he  had  purchased  inland  and 
served  with  hospitable  hand, — curios  which  he 
fished  from  capacious  pockets  for  the  children, 
— these  he  made  the  servants  of  his  friendly 


182 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


disposition.  Then  in  the  homes  here  in  Amer- 
ica, which  he  visited,  his  friendly  spirit  was 
continually  reflecting  his  glad  sunshine.  He 
seemed  to  forget  no  one  with  whom  he  had 
once  become  acquainted,  and  it  was  surpris- 
ing how  he  held  these  acquaintances  in  mem- 
ory even  down  to  the  little  children,  and  fol- 
lowed their  courses  through  the  years  and  in 
line  with  one  of  his  favorite  aphorisms,  “kept 
his  friendships  in  repair.” 

Hunter  Corbett’s  humility  was  one  of  his 
crowning  graces.  He  preferred  to  do'  his  work 
in  a quiet  nook  in  a modest  way,  to  having  his 
deeds  blazoned  abroad  and  himself  dragged 
into  the  limelight  in  the  role  of  benefactor.  He 
was  more  concerned  that  his  fellow-laborers 
should  receive  due  credit  for  their  share  of 
honor  in  what  was  worthily  done  in  their 
mutual  efforts  than  that  he  should  receive  rec- 
ognition. Only  by  close  questioning  could  he 
be  brought  to  the  admission  that  he  had  had 
any  considerable  part  in  the  achievement. 
This  willingness  to  minister  and  see  that  proper 
recognition  was  accorded  his  associates,  en- 
deared him  to  the  members  of  the  Chefoo  mis- 
sion in  no  ordinary  degree. 

His  courage  was  of  a positive  type.  He  met 
mountain-like  difficulties  during  the  years  of 
toil  with  an  optimism  bom  only  in  strong 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  MESSAGE  183 


hearts.  He  refused  to  see  the  discouraging  side 
of  an  enterprise  or  to  dwell  upon  the  disagree- 
able features  of  people  and  projects  as  long  as 
there  was  any  more  desirable  part  to  engage  his 
thoughts.  One  must  not  think  that  because  a 
missionary’s  main  efforts  are  to  develop  the 
truest  and  manliest  qualities  in  other  men  upon 
the  foreign  field,  that  he  is,  therefore,  spared  in 
those  surroundings  from  experiences  which 
test  his  courage  just  as  rigorously  as  though  he 
lived  in  America.  The  manner  in  which 
Hunter  Corbett  had  sometimes  to  deal  with 
hostile  natives,  frenzied  mobs,  turbulent  spirits 
in  the  markets  and  even  robbers  who  beset  him 
by  the  way  marked  him  as  a decidedly  courage- 
ous man, — one  who  never  courted  danger  but 
who  never  flinched  when  once  it  was  met. 

His  courtesy  was  one  of  his  knightliest 
graces.  It  was  born  of  his  soul  of  kindness. 
It  expressed  itself  in  the  cheerful  greetings 
given  to  all  whom  he  met.  He  had 

“A  heart  at  leisure  from  itself  to  soothe  and 
sympathize.” 

There  was  a group  of  persons  in  Cannons- 
burg,  Pa.,  many  years  ago  who  were  making 
friendly  comparisons  of  a number  of  gallant 
Scotch-Irish  students  who  were  in  attendance 


184 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


at  Jefferson  College  there,  and  the  verdict  of 
the  little  company  was  that  the  most  princely 
student  of  them  all  was  young  Corbett.  The 
genuineness  of  polite  address  won  for  him  this 
distinction.  This  courtesy  came  naturally 
from  his  love  of  people,  and  this  love  he 
never  outgrew,  and  so  retained  his  courtesy 
to  the  very  last.  The  raggedest  child  along 
the  foul-smelling  bund  of  Chefoo  shared  it 
with  the  taotai  at  the  yamen.  This  love  of 
people,  next  to  the  love  of  his  Savior,  was  the 
crowning  grace  in  Hunter  Corbett’s  character. 
He  never  forgot  that  men  had  souls  to  be 
saved,  and  his  love  for  them  made  possible  the 
long  journeys  over  the  Shantung  hills  and 
mountains,  the  uncomplaining  delays  in  the 
wretched  inns  of  the  interior  villages,  the 
cheerful  salutations  with  which  he  greeted  the 
rough  men  in  the  field  and  on  the  foot  paths, 
and  the  patient  labors  by  which  he  gathered 
the  harvest  sheaves  to  bear  back  to  his  Master 
at  eventime.  It  was  this  love  for  his  Savior 
and  his  fellow-men  which  became  the  con- 
straining motive  of  his  every  message  and  led 
him  to  regard  with  optimistic  vision  the  hope- 
ful and  assuring  features  of  his  life  enter- 
prise. It  determined  his  attitude  toward  others 
and  his  estimate  of  the  Chinese  character. 
From  such  a viewpoint  he  spoke  while  on  fur- 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  MESSAGE  185 


lough  of  the  worth  of  those  among  whom  he 
labored,  “I  will  say  that  nowhere  on  earth 
will  you  find  more  faithful  friendships  or  more 
conscientious  observance  of  the  principles  of 
right  and  justice,  as  they  understand  them, 
than  right  there  in  what  we  call  heathendom.” 

/If  proclaiming  the  good  news  of  the  Gospel 
meant  privation,  it  also  spelled  compensation, 
for  this  is  his  testimony:  “It  has  been  my 
privilege  to  travel  around  this  world  three 
times,  to  cross  the  Pacific  ocean  eight  times,  to 
meet  missionaries  from  all  countries,  and  I 
have  yet  to  meet  an  unhappy  missionary,  whose 
heart  was  in  the  work.  We  must  undergo 
many  things  which  nothing  else  could  persuade 
us  to  undergo  except  the  joy  of  serving  God 
and  winning  souls..  But  it  seems  to  me  the 
joy  of  winning  souls  in  heathen  lands  is  far 
greater  than  winning  them  at  home,  for  we 
have  the  joy  of  unfolding  the  blessed  truths 
to  darkened  minds  for  the  first  time.”  Such 
testimony  was  rooted  in  definite  conviction 
such  as  is  expressed  in  one  of  his  sermons: 

“The  broad  foundation  of  Christian  life  is 
unwavering  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only 
Savior.  ‘Going  on  to  perfection’  is  the  only 
way  to  realize  a truly  progressive  career.  If 
Jesus  is  our  life  we  have  been  renewed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  We  have  new  hearts  wherein 


186 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Jesus  dwells  by  faith  and  love.  We  have  new 
natures,  new  hopes  and  new  powers  to  do  God’s 
will.  This  glorious,  merciful  and  all-power- 
ful Savior  is  our  Savior.  Christ  said  to  His 
disciples,  ‘I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life 
and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly.’ 
When  days  of  sickness,  temptation,  doubt,  and 
discouragement  come  upon  us,  when  bereave- 
ment and  aching  loneliness  come  into1  our 
hearts  and  homes,  when  we  are  called  to  part 
with  loved  ones  dearer  than  life,  what  are  we 
to  do?  Believe.  Trust  God’s  promises.  Joy 
cometh  in  the  morning.  What  inexpressible 
comfort  to  feel  that  Jesus  is  ours!  A friend 
who  sticketh  closer  than  a brother!  Able  to 
sympathize  and  comfort  and  bind  up  the  bleed- 
ing and  aching  heart  as  no  friend  on  earth  can 
do.” 

The  secret  springs  of  action  are  perhaps  no 
more  evident  than  in  the  two  Scripture  texts 
he  quoted  as  he  took  the  Moderator’s  chair  in 
Des  Moines  in  1906:  “What  doth  Jehovah 
require  of  thee  but  to  do  justly  and  to  love 
kindness  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God?” 
“And  be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tender- 
hearted, forgiving  each  other,  even  as  God  also 
in  Christ  forgave  you.”  “These,”  he  said, 
“have  been  the  guiding  stars  of  my  life.  Let 
us  follow  these  things,  my  brethren,  and  we 
shall  be  true  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.” 


XIX 


COMRADES  OF  THE  CROSS 

THE  work  of  Foreign  Missions  was  re- 
garded by  Hunter  Corbett  as  a dis- 
tinctively co-operative  business.  He 
thoroughly  believed  that  each  member  at  the 
station  had  a particular  and  individual  line  of 
work  to  which  he  was  called,  and  that  these 
varied  lines  of  action  should  fit  harmoniously 
into  one  vast  undertaking.  Nor  were  his  esti- 
mates of  value  confined  to  work  upon  the 
foreign  field.  They  were  commensurate  with 
the  far-reaching  forces  of  prayer  and  influence. 
They  embraced  the  workers  in  the  homeland 
and  the  toilers  abroad,  irrespective  of  denomi- 
nation, and  this  made  them  all  comrades  of  the 
cross.  It  was  because  he  knew  the  lines  of 
missionary  labor  repeatedly  crossed  and  re- 
crossed in  the  Shantung  province,  that  he  was 
averse  to  take  honor  to  himself  in  the  results 
of  organization  and  ingathering.  “It  is  all  one 
work,  and  all  of  us  have  had  a share  in  it,” 
he  often  remarked  in  reviewing  the  history  of 
missions  in  China. 

During  his  lifetime  he  witnessed  the  rise 
and  development  of  the  China  Inland  Mission 

187 


188 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


under  Hudson  Taylor,  and  he  had  that  gifted 
organizer  and  man  of  faith  come  before  his 
Bible  Training  classes  repeatedly  and  address 
the  students.  Early  in  his  service  in  China  he 
was  also  thrown  into  intimate  relations  with 
Rev.  J.  B.  Hartwell,  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Mission  at  Tengchow.  Mr. 
Hartwell  sailed  from  New  York  in  November 
of  1858,  and  the  following  spring  arrived  at 
Shanghai,  and  later  located  at  Tengchow, 
where,  in  October,  1862,  he  organized  a Bap- 
tist church  with  eleven  members,  and  so  far  as 
is  known,  this  is  the  first  Protestant  church 
to  be  organized  north  of  Shanghai.  He  was 
thus  established  upon  Chinese  soil  when 
Hunter  Corbett  arrived  at  Tengchow  in  1864, 
and  the  friendship  of  these  two  men  date.s  back 
to  the  time  when  the  latter  reached  this  treaty 
port. 

But  naturally  the  ties  of  Hunter  Corbett’s 
friendship  were  strongest  with  the  men  who 
were  closely  allied  with  him  in  the  experiences 
of  those  years  during  which  his  most  strenuous 
service  was  rendered.  The  three  thus  claim- 
ing this  primal  relation  were  Drs.  Calvin 
Mateer,  John  L.  Nevius  and  Chas.  R.  Mills. 
Mr.  Mateer  was  a friend  of  seminary  days, 
and  together  with  their  wives  they  had  sailed 
from  New  York  on  the  six  months’  voyage  to 
China.  Each  of  the  friends  was  possessed  of 


COMRADES  OF  THE  CROSS  189 


a strong  will,  good  mind,  and  tireless  energy. 
After  the  first  few  months  in  China  their 
chosen  work  carried  them  to  separate  voca- 
tions and  localities,  but  as  they  met  frequently 
they  planned  and  labored  together.  Their  con- 
ferences were  often  the  case  of  Greek  meeting 
Greek.  They  were  unsparing  in  their  criticism 
of  each  other.  It  was  given  face  to  face  with 
amazing  frankness  and  received  for  profit,  then 
putting  their  heads  together  they  planned  and 
prayed  for  new  conquests.  Their  first  itiner- 
aries were  made  together  with  never-to-be-for- 
gotten experiences  on  long  journeys,  and  in 
crowded  inns,  and  thronged  markets.  They 
wrestled  with  problems  of  transportation  when 
wheelbarrows  broke  down,  pack  mules  rolled 
in  the  mud,  floods  blocked  their  way  along  in- 
describable roads,  and  dishonest  coolies  stole 
their  belongings,  but  through  all  these  experi- 
ences their  souls  were  knit  together  with  a 
friendship  akin  to  that  of  David  and  Jonathan, 
and  the  stations  of  Tengchow  and  Chefoo  bear 
evidence  of  the  mutual  regard  of  these  stalwart 
veterans  in  the  King’s  service.  Dr.  Mateer 
accomplished  a remarkable  work  in  his  college 
at  Tengchow,  and  died  in  1908  and  was  buried 
at  Chefoo. 

Rev.  John  L.  Nevius,  D.  D.,  was  another 
associate  much  of  whose  missionary  effort  was 
interwoven  with  that  of  Hunter  Corbett.  He 


190 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


came  to  the  Chefoo  station  in  1871.  Previous 
missionary  experiences  at  Ningpo  enabled  him 
to  readily  adjust  himself  to  the  opportunities 
offered  at  the  northern  port  city.  He  built  the 
commodious  Nan  Lo,  within  a stone’s  throw 
of  the  Corbett  house  on  the  slope  overlooking 
the  Chefoo  harbor.  He  taught,  preached,  and 
itinerated  in  close  association  with  his  col- 
league. His  busy  mind  was  continually  ob- 
serving the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
Chinese  and  noting  the  distinguishing  features 
of  the  land  through  which  he  was  constantly 
passing  on  his  preaching  journeys,  and  his  pro- 
lific pen  gave  to  the  public  many  interesting 
books  and  newspaper  articles  relative  to  China 
and  the  Chinese.  Under  his  direction  orchards 
and  vineyards  were  planted  on  the  hilltops  and 
mountain  slopes  around  Chefoo,  and  are  to 
this  day  the  living  monuments  of  his  skill  and 
ability  as  a horticulturist. 

The  list  of  these  early  associates  in  the  work 
would  be  incomplete  without  reference  to  Rev. 
Charles  Rogers  Mills,  D.  D.,  who,  with  his 
wife,  passed  through  the  tragic  experiences  of 
the  Tengchow  station  during  the  first  years 
of  its  history.  The  Mills  were  established  in 
a heathen  temple  at  this  northern  port  city 
when  the  Mateers  and  the  Corbetts  arrived 
from  America,  and  they  invited  the  newcom- 
ers to  share  with  them  their  strange  home.  In 


COMRADES  OF  THE  CROSS  191 


these  congested  living  quarters  an  intimate 
friendship  was  developed  which  stood  the  test 
of  enforced  and  oftentimes  inconvenient  con- 
tact. The  Presbyterian  church  at  Tengchow 
was  organized  in  1865,  and  Dr.  Mills  was  its 
pastor  until  the  time  of  his  death  thirty  years 
later.  He  carried  on  an  extensive  itinerating 
work  around  Tengchow,  superintended  numer- 
ous out-stations  and  country  day  schools,  sup- 
plied the  Ning  Kia  church  from  1872  to  1877, 
and  with  scholarly  care  prepared  the  manu- 
scripts of  several  translations  and  original  vol- 
umes. His  wife  died  on  February  3d,  1874, 
and  he  was  left  with  four  children,  one  of  them 
a deaf  mute,  who  was  sent  to  the  School  for 
the  Deaf  in  Rochester,  New  York.  On  his 
furlough  to  America  in  1882,  Dr.  Mills  mar- 
ried Miss  Annette  E.  Thompson,  one  of  the 
teachers  in  this  institution,  and  thus  in  the 
providence  of  God  came  about  naturally  in 
course  of  time  the  establishment  of  the  School 
for  Chinese  Deaf  Children,  now  located  at 
Chefoo,  and  which,  through  the  patient  and 
capable  ministrations  of  Mrs,  Mills  and  her 
niece,  Miss  Carter,  has  brought  blessing  and 
brightness  into  the  hitherto  sealed  lives  of 
many.  Dr.  Mills  died  in  Tengchow  in  1895. 

Miss  C.  B.  Downing,  an  associate  of  Mrs. 
Corbett  in  her  missionary  labors  among  the 
Choctaw  Indians,  came  to  the  Chefoo  station 


192 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


in  April,  1866,  and  began  her  work  as  teacher 
in  the  girls’  school,  which  was  opened  during 
the  fall  of  this  same  year.  She  built  her  own 
house  on  a site  adjoining  the  church,  and  the 
Corbett  children  had  free  access  to  “Dantie’s” 
home,  as  it  was  familiarly  known.  She  re- 
mained a constant  friend  to  the  family  until  her 
death  in  1911. 

A'mong  the  comrades  of  the  cross  during  the 
early  years  of  Hunter  Corbett’s  service  in 
Shantung  were  Rev.  L.  W.  Eckhart,  who 
shared  in  the  responsibilities  of  the  Chef 00  sta- 
tion and  preached  untiringly  in  the  villages  of 
the  province  until  it  became  necessary  for  him 
and  his  wife  to  return  to  America;  Rev.  Jasper 
S.  Mcllvaine,  who,  with  the  zeal  of  an  apostle, 
pushed  into  the  interior  of  China  and  carried 
the  message  of  the  cross  from  Peking  to 
Tsinanfu  and  even  125  miles  further  into  the 
regions  beyond  until  claimed  by  death  before 
completing  a decade  of  service  in  the  empire; 
Rev.  J.  Fisher  Crosette,  who,  with  like  in- 
domitable spirit,  shared  in  the  privations  of  a 
lonely  life  far  inland,  and  gave  unstinted 
measures  of  service  to  the  blind,  the  poor,  the 
sick,  and  the  famine-stricken  along  the  Yellow 
river;  Rev.  John  Murray,  the  veteran  mission- 
ary still  at  his  post  of  duty  in  Tsinanfu,  train- 
ing evangelists  for  their  work  in  this  most 
thickly  populated  part  of  the  republic. 


COMRADES  OF  THE  CROSS  193 


Of  a later  period  were  others  who,  in  saddle 
and  shendza,  school  room  and  pulpit,  shared 
the  labors  and  triumphs  of  missionary  experi- 
ence with  Hunter  Corbett.  One  of  these  was 
the  late  Rev.  Geo.  Cornwell,  who  spent  seven- 
teen years  abroad.  He  planned  many  comforts 
and  attractions  for  the  American  sailors  visit- 
ing the  Chefoo  port,  and  rendered  a devoted 
service  in  many  lines  of  activity,  and  with  his 
wife  fell  a victim  to  the  ravages  of  the  cholera 
in  1909.  Another  companion  of  Hunter  Cor- 
bett’s toil  was  the  late  Dr.  Paul  D.  Bergen, 
with  whom  he  spent  many  happy  days,  both  in 
the  work  at  Chefoo  and  on  the  trails  to  and 
from  the  out-stations.  Dr.  Bergen  was  an 
omnivorous  reader  and  possessed  a good  mem- 
ory and  was  further  gifted  with  ready  expres- 
sion, and  the  two  men  seemed  to  find  special 
delight  in  each  other’s  company,  and  their 
friendship  became  one  of  the  traditions  of  the 
station  long  after  the  versatile  doctor  passed 
on  to  his  seat  of  honor  at  Weihsien.  Rev.  W. 
O.  Elterich,  Ph.  D.,  was  for  about  twenty-five 
years  associated  with  Hunter  Corbett  in  the 
work  of  the  Bible  Training  School,  and  later 
in  his  itinerating  labors,  and  to  him  has  been 
intrusted  the  responsible  task  of  training  and 
directing  the  native  workers.  The  responsi- 
bility for  the  itineraries,  however,  has  fallen 
chiefly  upon  Rev.  Paul  R.  Abbott,  as  Hunter 


194 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


Corbett’s  successor.  With  the  growth  of  the 
country  work  requiring  constant  supervision 
and  the  institutional  church  in  the  city  demand- 
ing more  care,  this  young  man  has  expanded 
with  his  tasks,  and  it  was  one  of  the  satisfac- 
tions of  Hunter  Corbett’s  last  years  to  see  with 
what  favor  the  Chinese  received  the  ministra- 
tions of  his  younger  associate. 

The  trail  Hunter  Corbett  followed  to  the 
hearts  of  other  of  his  co-laborers  in  China  is 
too  long  to  be  followed  and  the  stops  too  fre- 
quent to  be  enumerated.  It  ran  from  the  hos- 
pital and  schools  on  Temple  Hill  where  were 
other  comrades  who  shared  in  his  confidence 
and  love  to  the  homes  of  the  workers  at 
Tsingtau,  Weihsien,  Tsinanfu,  Tengchow,  and 
the  mission  stations  beyond;  it  stayed  not 
for  denominational  barriers,  for  there  were 
none  such  when  he  traveled  in  the  seven-league 
boots  of  affection;  it  led  to  the  doors  of  thou- 
sands of  Chinese  homes  where  he  was  bidden 
a friend’s  welcome.  There  is  a long  list  of  per- 
sonal friends  whose  names  are  frequently  met 
in  his  Journals  and  mentioned  as  household 
words  in  the  Corbett  home — familiar  names 
they  are,  like  Farnham,  Martin,  Smith,  Leyen- 
berger,  Fitch,  Happer,  Kerr,  Hayes,  Hamilton, 
Neal,  Scott,  Chalfant,  and  Hunter. 

When  his  love  passed  over  the  sea,  the  trail 
continued  to  run  wide  and  far  through  the 


COMRADES  OF  THE  CROSS  195 


homeland  to  the  offices  of  the  Foreign  Board 
in  New  York,  to  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood  and 
school  life,  to  the  churches  of  his  early  associ- 
ations, and  to  the  many  other  churches  where 
he  preached  during  his  furloughs.  For  the 
secretaries  of  the  Foreign  Board,  he  cher- 
ished a great  admiration  which  was  coupled 
with  warm,  personal  attachment.  His  mis- 
sionary career  began  under  the  secretaryship 
of  the  Hon.  Walter  Lowrie,  and  for  that 
statesman-like  servant  of  the  church  he  enter- 
tained the  high  regard  which  strong  men  of 
noble  impulse  and  purpose  feel  for  one  an- 
other. With  Dr.  Ellinwood  at  a later  date, 
there  was  the  same  bond  of  attachment,  while 
the  cords  of  a still  closer  friendship  bound 
him  to  one  of  the  present  force,  Dr.  Arthur  J. 
Brown.  It  was  this  friend,  who,  without  pre- 
arrangement, placed  Hunter  Corbett  before  the 
1 1 8th  General  Assembly  as  a candidate  for 
the  Moderatorship.  For  two  of  the  Field 
Secretaries  there  has  also  been  developed  an 
attachment  of  more  than  ordinary  strength, — 
the  one  with  the  late  Dr.  Thos.  Marshall,  who 
co-operated  in  many  ways  both  in  America  and 
China  to  make  the  work  at  Chefoo  a success, — 
his  benefaction  to  the  enterprise  following  his 
visit  to  China  in  1888  made  possible  the  erec- 
tion of  the  building  known  as  Marshall  Hall. 

The  close  attachment  with  the  other  field 


196 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


secretary,  Rev.  C.  E.  Bradt,  D.D.  of  Chicago, 
dates  to  the  time  when  Dr.  Bradt  was  called 
to  become  the  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Wichita,  Kans.  The  history  of 
this  church  in  its  missionary  development  un- 
der its  new  leader  unfolded  like  a romance. 
Hunter  Corbett  was  selected  as  its  representa- 
tive on  the  foreign  field  and  his  support  pledged 
by  the  membership,  and  before  Dr.  Bradt  re- 
signed the  pastorate  to  accept  the  Field  Secre- 
taryship of  the  Board,  he  had  the  joy  of  seeing 
six  foreign  missionaries  and  twenty  native  pas- 
tors supported  at  one  time  by  the  local  or- 
ganization. 

Another  devoted  friend,  whose  benefactions 
together  with  those  of  others  secured  by  him, 
mounted  into  thousands  of  dollars,  was  the 
late  Rev.  S.  T.  Davis,  M.  D.,  of  Kansas  City, 
Mo.  Dr.  Davis  continued  his  interest  and  ef- 
forts in  supplementary  support  of  Hunter  Cor- 
bett’s activities  from  the  year  1879,  “working 
out  of  sight,”  as  he  said,  “like  a mole  to  bring 
hidden  treasures  into  light.”  In  1913  he  went 
to  China  and  visited  at  Chef 00,  and  in  company 
with  Rev.  Paul  Abbott,  itinerated  through  the 
province  of  Shantung  quite  extensively,  and 
there  saw  some  of  the  results  of  his  thirty-four 
years  of  devoted  benefaction. 


XX 


BACK  TO  ANTIOCH 

|!\OUR  furloughs  in  fifty-six  years  of  ser- 
1"^  vice,  with  a brief  release  of  four  months, 
during  which  time  he  made  a flying  trip 
to  America,  is  the  record  of  Hunter  Corbett’s 
so-called  vacations.  These  cessations  from  la- 
bor in  China  were  little  other  than  change  of 
scene,  for  the  work  was  pushed  in  the  home- 
land with  much  of  the  same  vigor  that  charac- 
terized it  abroad.  But  in  the  change  there  was 
rest.  Hunter  Corbett  was  patriotic  to  the 
core.  Feelings  of  loyalty  for  his  native  coun- 
try were  accentuated  during  the  time  of  his 
absence  from  America,  and  upon  his  return  the 
views  of  her  cities,  mountains,  valleys,  fields, 
and  peaceful  homes,  were  refreshing  nectar 
to  his  soul.  They  were  also  the  unfolding  of 
the  leaves  in  God’s  great  book  of  the  nations, 
and  as  a wide-awake  student  of  events  and 
conditions,  he  read  his  lessons  there  as  the 
train  rushed  by. 

Then,  too,  these  periods  of  release  gave  him 
opportunity  to  keep  his  friendships  in  repair, 
197 


198 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


which  was  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  his 
life.  It  is  difficult  to  picture  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas returning  to  Antioch  from  their  missionary 
journeys  with  more  genuine  happiness  of 
heart  than  Hunter  Corbett  experienced  when 
landing  at  San  Francisco'  or  New  York.  He 
had  tasted  some  of  their  experiences,  had  been 
gladdened  by  similar  blessings  and  had  re- 
joiced in  them,  and  like  those  first  mission- 
aries, it  was  his  delight  to  gather  the  church 
together  and  rehearse  all  that  God  had  done 
and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  unto 
the  Gentiles. 

His  first  furlough  was  taken  in  1875.  The 
records  of  this  first  visit  to  the  homeland  are 
extremely  meager,  but  they  are  freighted  with 
interesting  occurrences.  He  came  with  his 
three  motherless  children  to  the  home  of  his 
parents  at  Leatherwood,  Pa.,  and  went  out 
as  occasion  offered,  to  present  the  cause  of 
Foreign  Missions  and  to  speak  particularly 
upon  phases  of  this  work  in  China.  The  for- 
eign missionary  and  his  message  were  not  then 
as  popular  in  the  church  as  to-day.  Ignorance 
of  conditions  was  appalling  and  matched  only 
by  indifference.  In  going  among  the  churches, 
Hunter  Corbett  was  compelled  to  pay  nearly  all 
his  expenses  without  remuneration,  and  ex- 
pended five  hundred  dollars  of  his  little  capital 


BACK  TO  ANTIOCH 


199 


in  order  to  sow  the  seed  of  missionary  infor- 
mation. It  was  galling  to  his  soul  to  present 
the  facts  and  have  them  lodge  against  the  nar- 
rowness of  natures  which  never  saw  anything 
beyond  the  greed  and  gain  of  their  own  ac- 
cumulations. 

Sometimes  the  foolish  questionings  of  his 
auditors  drew  fire,  as  once  when  a member  of 
a purse-bound  congregation  in  Kansas  in- 
quired of  him,  “If  the  Chinese  can  live  on  three 
cents  a day,  why  can’t  you?”  “I  can,  and  so 
can  you,  but  until  you  do,  you  have  no  right 
to  demand  it  of  me,”  he  retorted.  “Here,” 
he  continued,  “look  at  your  cornfields.  You 
are  burning  the  corn  for  fuel,  the  pumpkins 
are  rotting  between  the  rows ; around  the  edges 
of  the  fields  the  tall  prairie  grass  is  bleaching 
in  the  wind  and  rain.  In  a week’s  time  each 
of  you  men  could  gather  corn  enough  to  do 
your  family  for  a year;  in  another  week  you 
could  preserve  enough  pumpkins  to  last  for  the 
year  also.  Then  during  the  third  week  you 
could  collect  enough  bundles  of  grass  and  corn- 
stalks to  serve  as  fuel  for  an  entire  year  if 
you  used  it  as  do  the  Chinese.  But  at  the  end 
of  three  weeks  you  must  stop  collecting  sup- 
plies of  food  and  fuel,  for  you  will  then  have 
far  more  than  the  average  man  in  China  can 
hope  to  have  by  working  from  dawn  till  dark 


200 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


the  whole  year  through.  Now  until  you  are 
willing  to  live  on  this  scale,  you  have  no  right 
to  ask  me  to  do  it.” 

Hunter  Corbett’s  visits  to  the  churches  at 
this  time  took  him  over  eight  states.  He  spoke 
with  great  earnestness  but  made  no  appeals  for 
gifts  and  took  no  collections,  for  he  was  not 
after  money,  simply  sowing  the  seed  in  a cam- 
paign of  missionary  education.  The  harvest 
was  gathered  by  others  in  after  years.  Mean- 
time he  planned  his  own  routes  and  paid  his 
own  expenses.  It  was  during  this  first  fur- 
lough that  he  met  Miss  Mary  Nixon  of  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  and  was  married  on  Sept.  1 6,  1875. 
She  accompanied  him  on  his  visits  to  many  of 
the  American  churches,  and  on  the  15th  of 
June  1876  they  sailed  from  New  York  on  the 
State  of  Virginia,  and  after  spending  some 
time  in  Scotland  and  the  countries  of  Europe, 
passed  on  to  China. 

It  was  ten  years  before  he  again  returned  to 
Atnerica, — a period  of  intensely  active  service 
and  enlarged  opportunity  made  possible  by 
effort  to  relieve  suffering  during  the  famine  of 
1876-1878,  and  the  response  given  by  the  Chi- 
nese as  a consequence.  It  was  while  returning 
from  one  of  his  strenuous  itineraries  during 
which  he  had  baptized  over  250  converts,  that 
he  received  the  news  of  the  drowning  of  his 


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201 


son  Merle.  The  boy  was  a lad  of  exceptional 
promise  and  had  already  dedicated  himself  to 
the  foreign  work,  and  was  entertaining  the 
hope  of  joining  his  father  in  China  upon  the 
completion  of  his  course  in  College  and  Semi- 
nary. It  was  while  Merle  was  watching  the 
waters  of  Leatherwood  Creek  near  the  old 
home  in  Clarion  County,  Pennsylvania,  that 
the  current  of  the  flood  undermined  the  rock 
upon  which  he  was  standing  and  so  flung  him 
to  his  death  in  the  raging  stream.  When  the 
news  of  this  sad  fatality  reached  Hunter  Cor- 
bett it  was  as  though  the  oak  of  his  nature  had 
been  stricken  in  the  throes  of  a storm.  He  re- 
turned from  his  itinerary  completely  pros- 
trated. His  feet  and  body  began  to  swell  and 
the  consulting  physicians  gave  no  hope  of  re- 
covery. The  school  at  Chefoo  was  dismissed 
and  the  seventy-two  men  in  training  there  scat- 
tered through  the  province  and  stirred  up  the 
Christians  everywhere  to  pray  for  the  recov- 
ery of  the  missionary.  In  answer  to  their 
petitions,  Hunter  Corbett’s  life  was  spared  and 
he  was  restored  to  health. 

On  his  second  furlough  Hunter  Corbett 
reached  San  Francisco  with  his  family  on  Oct. 
23,  1885,  and  with  his  usual  energy  and  friend- 
liness, visited  the  churches  of  the  city,  and  be- 
fore leaving  two  weeks  later,  had  met  many  of 


202 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


the  Christian  workers  in  that  western  metropo- 
lis and  identified  himself  with  the  agencies 
there  employed  in  the  spread  of  the  Kingdom. 
It  was  a repetition  of  the  same  story  in  Ta- 
coma, Washington,  where  he  went  next.  Here 
he  established  himself  in  more  permanent  quar- 
ters, and  immediately  proceeded  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  ministers  of  the  city  and 
place  his  services  at  their  disposal.  Thus  he 
passed  the  time  preaching  and  speaking  as  oc- 
casion offered,  sometimes  in  the  pulpits  of  the 
city  or  in  the  nearby  churches,  and  frequently 
through  an  interpreter  to  the  Indians  on  the 
neighboring  reservation.  The  work  was  fur- 
ther varied  by  efforts  in  the  interests  of  the 
Chinese  in  America,  and  the  writing  of  nu- 
merous articles  for  the  press,  particular  atten- 
tion being  given  to  an  article  for  the  Foreign 
Missionary  on  “Twenty-five  Years’  Work  in 
Shantung,  China.” 

In  May  of  1886  Hunter  Corbett  left  Ta- 
coma for  the  eastern  states.  On  the  way  he 
attended  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly 
which  met  in  Minneapolis.  He  then  passed  on 
to  visit  his  parents  in  their  Leatherwood  home, 
and  later  toured  through  the  east,  speaking  in 
a number  of  prominent  churches  and  visited  at 
Clifton  Springs  and  Chautauqua  in  New  York. 
His  further  itineraries  carried  him  through 


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203 


Colorado,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Wisconsin  and 
Ohio,  and  then  again  to  the  states  of  the  east 
and  even  into  Canada,  the  path  of  his  wide 
journeys  during  the  summer  converging  three 
times  at  Niagara  Falls.  At  daybreak  on  the 
morning  of  Feb.  28th,  1887,  after  a sad  parting 
with  his  aged  parents,  he  again  set  his  face 
toward  China.  The  route  of  departure,  how- 
ever, led  him  into  many  pulpits  on  his  zigzag 
tour  to  the  western  coast,  the  record  showing 
no  less  than  18  churches  visited  before  he 
sailed  with  his  family  from  San  Francisco  on 
April  1 6th.  The  many  friends  who  gathered 
at  the  wharf  sang  together  “All  Hail  the 
Power  of  Jesus’  Name,”  as  the  steamer,  The 
City  of  Peking,  weighed  anchor  and  steamed 
west. 

The  family  arrived  at  Chefoo  on  May  20, 
and  again  Hunter  Corbett  turned  to  his  chosen 
work  on  Chinese  soil  with  happy  enthusiasm. 
He  was  now  fifty-one  years  of  age,  physically 
toughened  by  itinerating  experiences  which 
would  have  broken  a less  rugged  physique,  and 
the  labors  of  the  succeeding  decade  are  a mar- 
vel of  accomplishment  and  physical  endurance. 
Twice  each  year  the  long  and  laborious  jour- 
neys were  taken  into  the  interior  to  make  the 
round  of  the  inland  churches  and  schools,  to 
preach  and  receive  candidates,  to  examine  pu- 


204 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


pils  and  supervise  the  work  of  the  teachers,  to 
adjust  the  thousand  and  one  details  centering 
in  these  numerous  activities,  to  visit  the  wheys 
in  village  and  fu,  and  to  open  new  preaching 
stations  in  remote  regions  where  some  of  his 
trained  workers  had  preceded  him  and  blazed 
the  trail  for  a still  more  extended  work.  His 
experiences  among  the  Shantung  hills  and  val- 
leys, amid  the  perils  of  lonely  mountain  roads 
and  raging  rivers,  and  in  the  thronging  cities, 
were  singularly  like  those  of  the  great  apostle 
to  the  Gentiles  as  he  labored  centuries  before 
among  the  villages  of  Asia  Minor  and  the 
cities  of  the  Mediterranean  coast.  Nor  were 
the  sorrows  of  separation  lacking  during  this 
period,  since  bereavement  came  to  him  by  the 
death  of  his  faithful  wife  on  October  7th,  1888. 
He  was  called  back  to  Chefoo  from  his  itin- 
erary too  late  to  see  again  in  life  her  who  by 
her  beautiful  Christian  character  and  gentle 
refinement  had  left  a lasting  impress  upon  his 
home  and  the  mission. 

In  1893  t^ie  mother  of  Hunter  Corbett  sus- 
tained an  injury  which  resulted  in  a long  term 
of  invalidism  terminated  by  death  eight  years 
later.  News  of  this  accident  determined  him 
to  make  a speedy  trip  to  America  during  the 
summer  months.  He  left  Chefoo  on  the  8th 
of  May  for  Shanghai  where  he  attended 


BACK  TO  ANTIOCH 


205 


Synod,  and  shipped  on  the  steamer  Mogul  for 
Tacoma,  Washington,  reaching  the  western 
coast  on  June  23rd.  After  a hurried  visit  to 
Chicago  he  hastened  on  to  the  bedside  of  his 
mother  in  the  Leatherwood  homestead.  It  was 
a visit  which  brought  unspeakable  comfort  to 
the  aged  invalid  and  well-earned  rest  to  the 
missionary.  He  remained  continuously  with 
his  mother  and  daughter  Elizabeth  for  35  days, 
leaving  the  home  for  one  night  only,  and  two 
lines  from  his  Journal  tell  what  the  visit  meant 
to  him : “The  five  weeks  fled  like  a dream  all 
too  quickly.  I have  not  enjoyed  such  solid 
rest  in  thirty  years.”  On  the  12th  of  August 
he  started  on  his  return  trip  to  China,  looping 
back  to  the  west  by  way  of  Chautauqua  and 
Toronto,  and  was  soon  again  at  Chefoo  ready 
for  his  autumn  itinerary. 

Prior  to  this  trip  to  America  he  had  been 
happily  married  to  Miss  Harriet  R.  Suther- 
land who  had  been  sent  to  China  as  a mission- 
ary by  the  Canadian  Church  and  three  years 
after  the  visit  to  the  homeland,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1896  came  the  time  of  his  regular  fur- 
lough. The  Chinese  Christians  in  the  Chefoo 
church,  with  their  inborn  sense  of  courtesy, 
wholly  upon  their  own  initiative  prepared  for 
Hunter  Corbett’s  mother  a letter  which  was 
inscribed  on  silk  and  signed  by  more  than  300 


206 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


members,  and  this  they  sent  with  him.  The 
translation  follows: 

Chefoo,  Shantung,  China 
The  18th  Day  of  the  3d  Moon  of  the 
22  nd  year  of  H.  I.  M.  Kwang  Su 
(April  30th,  1896) 

To  the  Honored  Mother  of  our  Beloved  Pastor 
Rev.  Hunter  Corbett,  D.  D. 

We,  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Chefoo,  Shantung,  China,  would 
herewith  respectfully  send  our  regards  to  you. 
Though  we  have  never  had  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  you  personally,  and  have  only  seen 
your  picture,  yet,  because  of  our  beloved  pas- 
tor, Dr.  Hunter  Corbett,  our  hearts  go  out  in 
love  to  you.  We  know  that  a few  years  ago 
you  met  with  an  accident  which  has  since  con- 
fined you  to  your  couch.  We  can  realize  how 
much  you  must  have  longed  for  the  presence 
of  our  pastor,  and  how  anxious  also  he  was  to 
be  with  his  mother.  We  remember  how  the 
Mission  granted  his  request  to  return  home 
for  a time  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  his  be- 
loved mother.  Since  then  our  esteem  and  re- 
spect for  you  have  grown  because  of  the  fact, 
that  though  you  were  more  than  eighty  years 
of  age  and  had  received  a severe  injury  which 
prevented  you  from  going  about,  yet  you  did 
not  claim  your  right — though  no  one  could 
have  objected  under  the  circumstances — to 
keep  him  with  you.  We  know  it  was  from 
your  desire  not  to  hinder  the  work  of  the 
Lord  that  you  so  willingly  permitted  our  pas- 


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207 


tor  to  return  to  us,  in  order  that  he  might  con- 
tinue to  feed  us  with  the  bread  of  life.  For 
this  we  cannot  but  truly  thank  you. 

As  to  our  beloved  pastor  we  truly  cannot  re- 
frain from  praising  him  because  of  his  many 
noble  qualities.  Has  he  not  for  more  than  thirty 
years  here  in  China  undergone  innumerable 
hardships  for  the  sake  of  the  Gospel?  Has  he 
not  during  this  time  received  more  than  a thou- 
sand pupils,  and  had  the  pastoral  care  of  sev- 
eral thousand  Christians  ? Did  he  not  give  all 
his  strength  and  mind  to  the  work,  and  how 
many  of  the  poor  have  been  the  recipients  of 
his  noble  generosity?  And  as  to  his  devoted- 
ness to  the  work  we  cannot  but  mention  how 
his  footprints  are  to  be  found  in  nearly  every 
part  of  this  province,  and  his  words  of  exhor- 
tation still  echo  in  all  places,  so  that  when  the 
seed  thus  sown  shall  spring  up  and  bear  fruit, 
the  harvest  thereof  shall  be  truly  great.  We 
have  still  more  cause  for  praise  when  we 
think  of  ourselves,  church  members  and  pupils, 
how  according  to  the  Scriptures,  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  our  pastor  exhorted  us,  re- 
minded us  most  earnestly  of  our  duties,  and 
prayed  for  us  day  and  night.  Of  him  can  be 
truly  said  what  Paul  testified  of  himself  to  the 
Ephesian  Elders,  that  he  shrank  not  from  tell- 
ing unto  them  that  which  was  profitable.  (Acts 
xx:2o).  Therefore  when  he  is  now  about  to 
return  to  his  home  we  can  scarcely  give  him 
up.  We  rejoice  however  in  the  thought  that 
he  will  see  his  beloved  mother  again  and  sin- 
cerely trust  that  he  may  be  able  to'  return  soon 


208 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


to  China  and  shepherd  us  as  formerly.  We 
are  also  hoping  that  his  dear  sons  and  daugh- 
ters may  be  enabled  to  finish  their  studies,  and 
in  due  season  return  to  China  and  take  up  and 
continue  the  work  for  which  you  yourself  and 
their  father  have  already  sacrificed  so  much. 
We  are 

Most  Respectfully, 

The  Members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Chefoo,  Shantung,  China. 

The  days  of  this  furlough  were  as  usual 
filled  to  the  limit  of  his  endurance  by  his 
preaching  and  missionary  addresses.^  During 
the  autumn  months  he  attended  a number  of 
meetings  in  the  Synods  of  the  east  and  mid- 
dle west.  The  remaining  time  was  fully  oc- 
cupied and  in  August  of  the  following  year 
he  again  returned  to  China  and  reached  Che- 
foo on  Sept.  6th,  1897,  where  he  and  his  fam- 
ily were  accorded  a warm  welcome  at  the  mis- 
sion by  Mrs.  J.  L.  Nevius,  Miss  Bainbridge, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robt.  E.  Speer  of  New  York, 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  E.  Shoemaker  of  Ningpo, 
and  other  friends  together  with  more  than  a 
hundred  Chinese  Christians.  A week  later  he 
was  in  the  saddle  swinging  across  the  Shantung 
hills  on  one  of  his  far-ranging  itineraries,  and 
with  no  abatement  of  energy  his  labors  were 
continued  through  the  succeeding  decade. 

The  year  1906  brought  him  once  more  to 


BACK  TO  ANTIOCH  209 

I 

t 

America.  This  was  to  be  for  him  an  eventful 
year  in  that  he  came  as  a commissioner  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
U.  S.  A.,  and  as  the  time  of  meeting  drew  near, 
many  of  his  fellow-commissioners  frankly 
told  him  they  intended  to  make  of  him  some- 
thing more  than  a mere  commissioner.  The 
Assembly  met  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  So  also 
did  the  Hoo  Hoos,  a convention  of  the  state 
physicians,  and  a conference  of  the  Brethren 
in  Christ,  to  say  nothing  of  a circus,  and  a 
meeting  of  milliners,  and  moreover  they  all 
chose  the  same  date  for  convening,  so  that 
when  the  trains  unloaded  their  thousand  Pres- 
byterian commissioners  and  visitors  the  hotels 
of  Iowa’s  capital  city  “out-sardined  any  box 
of  sardines.”  This  congested  condition  may 
have  contributed  toward  generating  ecclesiasti- 
cal interest  in  producing  candidates  for  the 
Moderatorship,  for  when  the  speeches  of  the 
afternoon  were  at  an  end,  the  names  of  five 
Doctors  of  Divinity  were  before  the  Assembly, 
— A.  B.  Marshall  of  Minneapolis,  T.  J.  Cleland 
of  Duluth,  John  F.  Hendy  of  Jefferson,  Mo., 
J.  L.  Barkley  of  Detroit,  and  Hunter  Corbett. 
The  nominating  speech  for  the  last  named  was 
made  by  Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown  of  New  York, 
one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  Foreign  Board. 
His  masterly  address  coupled  with  the  record 


210 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


of  his  candidate  appealed  to  the  heroic  in  the 
commissioners,  and  at  the  close  of  the  third 
ballot  Hunter  Corbett  was  declared  elected. 

This  meeting  of  the  Assembly  was  espe- 
cially noted  for  its  action  in  effecting  the 
union  of  the  Cumberland  and  U.  S.  A.  Pres- 
byterian churches,  and  while  Hunter  Corbett 
may  not  have  been  classed  as  a strict  parlia- 
mentarian, the  fine  spirit  of  the  man  was 
evident  at  every  turn  of  the  deliberations, 
and  this  led  to  a happy  issue  for  every  prob- 
lem confronted.  By  the  action  of  the  As- 
sembly in  accepting  the  recommendation  of 
the  Foreign  Board,  an  extension  of  his  fur- 
lough was  granted  to  Hunter  Corbett  until 
after  the  meeting  of  1907.  This  privilege  he 
accepted  in  part  only,  and  throughout  the  re- 
maining months  of  the  year  visited  many  of 
the  prominent  churches  of  America  as  invited, 
and  left  for  China  late  in  the  following  winter. 
One  of  the  pleasant  incidents  of  this  furlough 
which  he  delighted  to  relate  was  his  meeting 
with  Theodore  Roosevelt  who  was  then  in  the 
White  House.  Hunter  Corbett  was  presented 
by  the  pastor  of  one  of  the  Washington 
churches,  who  said,  “Mr.  Roosevelt,  this  man 
has  been  in  China  almost  as  many  years  as  you 
are  old.”  The  President  gave  his  hand  a vig- 
orous shake  and  responded  with  characteristic 


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211 


cordiality,  “By  George,  I am  glad  to  meet  you.” 
Then  with  great  earnestness  he  proceeded,  “I 
want  you  to  tell  the  Chinese  people  I am  de- 
termined that  justice  shall  be  done  them.  Tell 
them  that  they  must  help  me,  and  that  mobs 
such  as  at  the  killing  of  our  missionaries  in 
Lien  Chow  hinder  me  and  all  others  who  are 
urgent  to  see  justice  done  to  the  Chinese.” 

In  February,  1907,  more  than  a thousand 
Presbyterian  men  from  New  York  to  San 
Francisco,  and  from  Texas  to  Minnesota, 
gathered  into  Omaha,  Nebraska  to  attend  the 
sessions  of  an  Inter-Synodical  Mission  for 
Men.  At  the  close  of  this  great  gathering  and 
shortly  before  leaving  for  the  western  coast 
on  his  way  to  China,  Hunter  Corbett  delivered 
“A1  Parting  Word  to  the  Men  of  America,” 
while  the  entire  assembly  remained  standing 
throughout  the  brief  address.  He  said  in  con- 
clusion : 


“The  great  privilege  which  I have  enjoyed 
the  past  year  in  being  permitted  in  many  as- 
semblies to  tell  of  God’s  work  in  China;  the  in- 
telligent and  sympathetic  interest  many  have 
shown  in  the  mission  work:  the  opportunity 
of  renewing  and  keeping  friendship  in  repair, 
together  with  the  kind  hospitality  I have  re- 
ceived in  many  Christian  homes,  have  given  me 
a treasure  of  happy  memories  and  an  inspira- 


212 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


tion  which  will  make  all  my  remaining  life 
in  China  more  glad  and  hopeful.  More  than 
forty  years  spent  in  China  have  deepened  my 
faith  in  the  exceeding  preciousness  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ.  An 
imperative  need  of  every  Christian,  as  well  as 
all  men,  is  to  have  an  experimental  and  grow- 
ing knowledge  of  the  Gospel,  which  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth.  The  Gospel  is  also  the  antidote  to 
despair  and  countless  ills.  All  who  love  the 
truth  and  earnestly  desire  to  have  a richer  ex- 
perience of  the  full  and  overflowing  life  prom- 
ised to  obedient  disciples  must  make  unwaver- 
ing loyalty  to  Jesus  life’s  keynote;  all  must 
honor  the  Holy  Spirit  and  implicitly  follow 
His  guidance.  . . . Shall  we  not  all  hope  and 
earnestly  pray  for  God’s  richest  blessing  not 
only  to  follow  and  abide  with  every  member 
of  this  Assembly,  but  that  every  Church  and 
community  here  represented  shall  share  in  a 
great  revival  that  will  sweep  over  the  world 
and  establish  a Universal  Brotherhood  of 
Christian  Men?  Farewell!” 


XXI 


SUNSET  ON  TEMPLE  HILL 

IT  is  very  beautiful  to  see  the  sunset  sha- 
dows close  in  upon  Temple  Hill  at  Che- 
foo.  The  purpling  lights  shift  and  change 
on  mountain  and  sea.  The  steamers  and  junks 
lying  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  are  bathed  in  the 
golden  glow  of  eventide.  Like  a filmy  veil 
the  smoke  hangs  over  the  dark  roofs  of  the 
native  city.  A flag  is  waved  in  parting  signal 
to  an  outbound  steamer  and  the  sea  seems  rest- 
ful and  quiet  in  the  far  view.  The  men  who 
have  been  upon  the  hill  for  the  afternoon,  re- 
move their  bird  cages,  each  with  its  singing 
lark,  from  the  limbs  of  the  evergreens  in  the 
shade  of  the  temple  walls  and  start  down  the 
slope  in  little  groups.  On  the  treeless  levels 
below,  the  boys  draw  in  their  bright  winged 
kites  and  turn  homeward.  The  deeper 
shadows  that  have  long  filled  the  hollows  on 
the  gray  mountain  sides  creep  down  the  sunken 
water  courses  and  silently  steal  upon  the  city. 
From  a position  close  by  the  native  church  one 
looks  across  the  highway  to  the  foreign  ceme- 
tery stretched  along  the  hillside  only  a few  rods 
213 


214 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


away,  then  back  to  the  house  of  many  pillars, 
and  while  the  waning  light  fades  over  the 
darkening  city,  the  restful  sea  and  the  ashen 
mountains,  there  is  the  feeling  of  fitness  cou- 
pling the  close  of  a perfect  day  with  the  sunset 
glory  of  a life  triumphant.  The  scene  and  the 
season  are  somehow  significant  of  the  passing 
of  Hunter  Corbett. 

The  steamer  which  on  March  13th,  1907, 
bore  him  from  San  Francisco  rent  by  its  earth- 
quake and  blackened  by  its  fire  of  the  preceding 
year,  carried  him  to  Shanghai  where  he  at- 
tended the  sessions  of  the  Morrison  Centennial 
Convention  and  then  hastened  on  to  Chefoo. 
The  news  of  his  coming  had  preceded  him,  and 
500  Chinese  Christians  and  other  friends 
awaited  him  upon  the  wharf  with  banners  and 
singing.  It  was  a glad  return  after  an  absence 
of  eighteen  months.  The  threads  of  work  were 
speedily  caught  up  and  he  was  almost  immedi- 
ately engaged  with  his  labors  in  the  school 
room  and  pulpit  and  once  more  resumed 
the  oversight  of  the  inland  schools  and 
churches. 

At  the  conclusion  of  forty- five  years  of  mis- 
sionary service,  when  he  was  seventy-four 
years  of  age,  with  beautiful  Christian  spirit^' 
he  concluded  the  supplement  of  his  Personal 
Report  for  1908  in  which  he  reviewed  his 


SUNSET  ON  TEMPLE  HILL  215 
work  in  the  Chi  Mi  district  with  these  words : 

“A's  I think  of  the  forty-five  years  which 
have  passed  since  my  first  arrival  in  China,  I 
am  reminded  of  the  Chinese  proverb  ‘The  life 
of  an  old  person  is  like  a candle  between  two 
doors,  easily  blown  out.’  Reason  therefore 
tells  me  it  is  best  at  this  time  that  this  field 
should  be  transferred  to  the  care  of  younger 
and  braver  men,  perpetually  stirred  by  the  en- 
thusiasm which  comes  from  fresh  views  of 
duty.  In  saying  farewell  to  all  the  dear  people 
of  that  district,  it  is  but  human  that  there 
should  be  a heart  wrench.  Surely  there  is  rea- 
son why  my  heart  goes  out  tenderly  to  that 
people,  and  while  life  lasts  they  will  have  a 
large  share  in  my  sympathies  and  prayers,  even 
though  I have  ceased  to  be  their  pastor  and 
official  director.” 

< 

His  natural  force,  however,  was  not  abated, 
and  when  he  was  seventy-six  years  of  age  he 
could  yet  out-do  most  of  his  companions  in 
the  exhausting  work  of  a long  itinerary,  and 
would  return  from  his  journeys  through  the 
province  to  engage  in  his  correspondence  and 
resume  his  duties  as  preacher,  teacher,  and 
administrator,  with  a freshness  and  vigor  that 
was  the  wonder  of  all.  A younger  missionary 
wrote  of  him  after  one  of  these  far  journeys 
into  the  country,  “I  was  simply  amazed  at  the 
recuperative  powers  of  this  man  of  76.  It  was 


216 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


no  easy  task  for  the  younger  man  to  keep  up 
to  his  pace.  He  is  like  a battleship  in  full 
action  delivering  broadside  after  broadside. 
He  is  preaching  all  the  time  and  to  every  one.” 

But  with  the  summer  of  1913  came  a threat- 
ened break  and  an  enforced  suspension  of  ac- 
tivity. The  unremitting  toil  of  long  journeys 
into  the  interior  during  the  past  years,  the  un- 
avoidable exposure  on  the  mountain  highways, 
and  the  necessary  privations  in  the  hostelries 
of  the  villages  through  which  he  traveled, 
naturally  exacted  a toll  of  physical  suffering 
which  he  endured  with  quiet  fortitude  during 
a portion  of  the  sunset  period.  The  days  and 
nights  of  pain  were  cheered  and  relieved  by 
the  loving  devotion  and  intelligent  ministra- 
tions of  his  wife  and  a similar  service  of  love 
on  the  part  of  his  children  and  fellow-workers. 
Wooed  back  into  a condition  of  comparative 
health,  it  was  to  take  up  his  tasks  again  ac- 
cording to  his  strength  and  pursue  them  per- 
se veringly  to  the  end.  Every  phase  of  the 
enlarging  work  of  the  station  made  possible  by 
the  Kennedy  benefaction  and  the  decision  of 
the  Foreign  Board  at  New  York,  challenged 
his  interest,  and  it  was  delightful  to  see  with 
what  enthusiasm  and  hearty  co-operation  he 
entered  into  the  plans  of  the  younger  members 
of  the  station.  Every  step  of  advance  made 


SUNSET  ON  TEMPLE  HILL  217 


in  the  churches,  the  schools,  and  the  hospital, 
was  warmly  seconded  by  him,  and  his  appre- 
ciative enthusiasm  over  the  achievements  of 
others,  together  with  the  welcome  given  to 
his  counsels  and  efforts  by  his  co-laborers, 
combined  to  make  this  feature  of  unanimity 
one  of  the  outstanding  triumphs  of  the  Chefoo 
station. 

During  the  period  following  Hunter  Cor- 
bett’s last  visit  to  the  United  States,  he  was 
repeatedly  honored  by  his  friends  in  China 
and  America.  In  addition  to  the  degrees  of 
D.  D.  and  L.  L.  D.  which  had  already  been  con- 
ferred by  Washington  and  Jefferson  College  in 
1886  and  1902,  the  Chinese  government  be- 
stowed on  him  the  decoration  of  the  Double 
Dragon,  and  on  numerous  occasions  expres- 
sion was  given  to  the  feelings  of  appreciative 
regard  in  which  he  was  held  by  all.  His 
seventy-fifth  birthday  was  one  of  these  red- 
letter  occasions.  Word  of  the  approaching 
event  was  quietly  passed  among  his  friends 
in  many  parts  of  the  world,  and  the  postman 
fairly  staggered  under  the  load  of  responses 
which  he  bore  to  Temple  Hill  on  Dec.  8th, 
1910.  Nearly  700  letters,  postals,  and  other 
expressions  of  good-will  were  received  by 
Hunter  Corbett,  and  all  were  acknowledged, — - 
very  many  of  them  being  answered  by  a per- 


218 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


sonal  letter  written  during  the  time  the  pneu- 
monic plague  of  1911  kept  the  city  of  Chefoo 
under  quarantine. 

The  celebration  of  his  eightieth  birthday 
took  yet  more  substantial  form.  It  was  pro- 
posed that  the  Boys’  Academy  which  he  had 
founded  fifty  years  before,  should  on  this  oc- 
casion be  renamed  the  Hunter  Corbett  Acad- 
emy, and  that  funds  for  new  buildings  be  pro- 
vided. An  excellent  sketch  of  his  life  was  pre- 
pared by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Harold  F.  Smith, 
and  this,  together  with  a statement  of  the  need 
for  the  proposed  memorial,  was  given  extended 
distribution  among  his  friends  with  the  result 
that  $8,248.50  were  contributed  toward  the 
project.  On  his  birthday,  Chinese,  Americans, 
and  the  representatives  of  other  nationalities 
gathered  in  large  numbers  on  Temple  Hill  and 
heartily  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  celebra- 
tion. A delegation  of  British  missionaries 
came  to  present  a copy  of  the  New  Testament 
in  Chinese  and  a silver  plate  as  a token  of  an 
organ  they  had  ordered  for  the  new  Academy. 
The  Chinese  came  bringing  banners  and  scrolls 
bearing  legends  expressive  of  their  regard  for 
“Gwoa-Musa”  (the  equivalent  of  Pastor  Cor- 
bett). One  of  the  banners  was  prepared  by 
the  thirty-one  churches  of  Shantung  Presby- 
tery and  its  characters  signified  Long  Life  and 


SUNSET  ON  TEMPLE  HILL  219 


Love.  Seventy  of  his  pupils  presented  three 
satin  banners  citing  the  fact,  “that  to-day,  staff 
in  hand  at  the  age  of  eighty,  meeting  any 
teacher  he  speaks  to  him  of  the  Truth  and  of 
the  Truth  alone  in  a thoroughly  clear  fashion.” 
A group  of  prominent  business  men  gave  a 
banner  of  blue  portraying  him  as  “a  revealer 
of  virtue.”  Among  the  numerous  scrolls  pre- 
sented was  one  reading  “Long  Life,  as  great 
as  the  mountains  and  the  stars,  as  high  as  im- 
perial favor.  Happiness,  as  deep  as  the  ocean 
and  the  clouds,  as  favored  as  a chosen  site.” 

Early  in  1918  Hunter  Corbett  wrote: 

“During  the  last  year  I have  passed  the 
eighty-second  milestone  on  life’s  journey  and 
rejoice  that  strength  has  been  given  me  to  as- 
sist daily  in  teaching  the  twenty-five  choice 
young  men  in  the  Bible  Training  School  at 
Chefoo,  and  also  each  afternoon  in  preaching 
in  the  street  chapel  and  museum,  where  for 
more  than  fifty  years  the  Gospel  has  been 
daily  preached,  scriptures  sold,  and  tracts  dis- 
tributed. The  influence  of  this  work  has  been 
far  reaching  in  many  inland  towns  and  vil- 
lages. The  seed  thus  sown  has  been  blessed  of 
God  in  bringing  many  to  a saving  knowledge 
of  Jesus  Christ.  I have  been  able  also  to  visit 
the  sick  in  Christian  homes  and  help  in  pastoral 
work.” 

Through  all  these  sunset  years  time  was 


220 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


given  for  reflection  and  this  he  improved  by 
re-inforcing  with  abundant  prayer.  Often  he 
would  appear  in  the  family  circle  with  the 
impress  of  the  wicker  chair  showing  clearly 
upon  his  forehead  where  as  he  had  prayed, 
the  strands  of  willow  set  the  seal  of  the  inter- 
cessor upon  his  brow.  During  this  period 
he  followed  the  affairs  of  his  children  and 
grandchildren  with  loving  concern.  He  was 
specially  interested  in  the  movements  of  his 
grandson  Lieut.  Geo.  P.  Hays  of  Oklahoma, 
and  justly  proud  of  the  Congresssional  Medal 
bestowed  upon  the  young  officer  for  his  con- 
duct at  the  second  battle  of  the  Marne.  With 
the  recollection  of  Civil  War  experiences  stir- 
ring him,  Hunter  Corbett  thrilled  with  every 
advance  of  our  boys  in  France,  and  many 
were  his  fervent  prayers  for  victory  and  a 
righteous  peace. 

Annually  as  the  eighth  of  December  arrived, 
he  would  unfailingly  send  out  a special  birth- 
day letter  to  the  members  of  his  widely  scat- 
tered family.  That  of  1918,  to  relatives  in 
America,  is  characteristic  of  his  spirit,  and  is 
here  reproduced  in  part : 

Chefoo,  Dec.  8,  1918 

My  dear  Children  and  Grandchildren  in  Amer- 
ica: 


SUNSET  ON  TEMPLE  HILL  221 


On  this  my  83rd  birthday  I send  you  all  very 
hearty  greetings.  Surely  to  me  has  been  ful- 
filled “With  long  life  will  I satisfy  him  and 
show  him  my  salvation.”  On  my  birthday  I 
always  read  and  meditate  Psalms  90  and  91. 
Surely  I should  rejoice  and  give  thanks  for  all 
God’s  goodness  to  me.  For  the  happy  restful 
home  I have  had;  for  all  the  dear  children  who 
have  made  glad  my  heart ; for  the  many  friends 
who  have  constantly  remembered  me  at  the 
Mercy  Seat;  for  work  and  the  joy  I have 
found  in  preaching  in  Chinese.  Near  the  sun- 
set of  my  life  “I  am  nearer  my  home  to-day 
than  I ever  have  been  before.”  To-day  I saw 
six  Chinese  women  kneeling  at  a new-made 
grave  and  wailing  as  only  those  living  with- 
out hope  can  wail.  Who  has  made  us  to 
differ  ? 

I 

His  letter  of  Dec.  8,  1919  was  received  in 
America  several  weeks  after  the  announcement 
of  his  death  by  cablegram.  It  reads : 

My  dear  Children  in  U.  S.  A. 

I would  rejoice  if  I could  meet  you  all, 
children,  grandchildren,  and  great  grandchil- 
dren to-day.  All  I can  do  is  to  wish  you  joy, 
peace  and  happiness  and  pray  for  you.  . . . 
Here  I was  called  out  of  my  study  to  meet  the 
teachers  and  pupils  from  the  various  schools 
who  came  to  wish  me  a happy  birthday.  They 
seemed  to  almost  fill  the  court.  What  a con- 
trast to  the  first  school  I opened  here  with 
three  pupils, — two  of  whom  ran  off  after  two 


222 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


days  to  escape  the  threats  to  take  their  lives  if 
they  remained.  ...  I have  just  returned 
from  hearing  the  students  of  my  Bible  Train- 
ing school  recite.  The  Scripture  lesson  for 
this  day  was  Ecclesiastes  2nd  chapter.  Happy 
are  those  who  do  not  aim  to  imitate  Solomon 
in  his  earthly  career.  I have  found  life  “good 
and  lovely,  sweet  and  peaceful,”  and  daily 
thank  God  for  having  guided  and  blessed  me 
the  past  84  happy  years. 

With  the  closing  of  the  year  it  became  evi- 
dent to  his  friends  that  Hunter  Corbett’s  sun- 
set was  fast  deepening  into  night.  No  over- 
shadowing cloud  arose  and  obscured  the  men- 
tal horizon.  There  was  simply  the  natural 
waning  of  the  intenser  light  of  life’s  long 
bright  day.  On  Christmas  morning"  he  at- 
tended an  entertainment  given  by  the  Chinese, 
and  that  evening  shared  in  the  community  din- 
ner served  at  the  home  of  his  daughter.  A 
few  days  later  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis, 
and  the  end  came  peacefully  in  the  early  morn- 
ing of  Wednesday,  January  7th,  1920. 

It  was  his  expressed  desire  that  the  Chi- 
nese Christians  take  charge  of  the  funeral,  and 
to  accommodate  the  large  numbers  who  wished 
to  attend,  a double  service  was  arranged.  His 
body  was  carried  into  the  Temple  Hill  church 
on  Friday  morning  where  the  pupils  of  the 
mission  schools  gathered  at  ten  o’clock.  The 


SUNSET  ON  TEMPLE  HILL  223 


great  building  was  thronged  to  the  entrance 
way,  and  an  atmosphere  of  sincere  sympathy 
and  genuine  love  marked  the  entire  service. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  appropriate  and 
impressive  in  closing  than  to  hear  those  hun- 
dreds of  fresh  young  voices  sing  together 
Hunter  Corbett’s  favorite  hymn,  “Jesus  Loves 
Me.” 

In  the  afternoon  the  Chinese  adults  and  al- 
most the  entire  foreign  community  came  to- 
gether for  the  service  at  three  o’clock.  Na- 
tive Christians  had  come  in  from  distant  coun- 
ties to  be  present  and  show  their  respect  for 
their  friend  and  spiritual  father.  The  Chi- 
nese members  wore  upon  their  sleeve  a black 
band  of  mourning  which  also  served  as  a sign 
for  admission.  The  hillside  around  the  church 
was  thronged  with  a vast  crowd  which  had 
surged  up  from  the  city  below.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  impressive  service  conducted  in 
both  Chinese  and  English,  sixteen  stalwart 
men,  most  of  whose  parents  had  been  brought 
to  Christ  by  Hunter  Corbett,  bore  the  heavy 
casket  from  the  church  doors  to  the  cemetery 
gates,  passing  through  a double  line  of  school 
children  and  students  who  thus  acted  as  a 
special  guard  of  honor.  At  the  gates  of  the 
cemetery,  which  he  had  himself  helped  to 
mark  out  upon  the  hillslope  more  than  fifty 


224 


HUNTER  CORBETT 


years  before,  the  Chinese  friends  were  re- 
placed by  the  foreign  pall  bearers,  including  the 
Commissioner  of  Customs,  two  leading  mer- 
chants of  the  city,  teachers,  and  missionary 
friends  of  years.  As  the  body  was  committed 
to  the  grave  in  the  plot  adjoining  that  of  his 
colleague,  Dr.  Calvin  Mateer,  and  near  to  the 
one  where  Dr.  J.  L.  Nevius  was  laid  to  rest 
twenty-five  years  before,  a double  quartette 
from  the  Hunter  Corbett  Academy  sang  with 
peculiar  fitness  and  feeling  in  their  mother 
tongue,  “I  Know  That  My  Redeemer  Liveth.” 
The  brief  Committal  service  was  then  read  by 
Dr.  Elterich,  and  the  great  throng  went  away 
in  the  waning  light  of  the  winter  sunset  com- 
forted with  the  assurance  that  we  shall  rise 
again. 


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